Patricia - WOW to the cabbage.  Now if I could just get down to 127 pounds!  I'd be a sylph of my former self, believe me.

Mary Ann

MaryAnn, up until 1/2011, I weighed 127 for years! Unfortunately, it is a long road back....

For Gloria, MaryAnn and all others who have cats;

"Researchers in Tokyo, Japan found out this lesson through a careful scientific analysis.

“The Japanese researchers found that cats understand
humans, not just by voice tone but also by identifying
certain words including their names, the owner’s name,
various commands you’ve used, and many other
eavesdropping techniques that you
had no idea about…”

Patricia, that's interesting about cats' understanding.  I have often wondered if Kendrick understood by the tone of my voice.  I do know he knows a loud "NO" because he backs off when I say that.  And I try to not say "NO" too often.  When I praise him, I usually am petting him and talking in my regular voice.  I am not sure he recognizes his name or Kitty, which is what I often call him.

As for the food with yogurt and peanut butter, I have never fed him people food of any kind, except I did let him lick the dish when I had had some ice cream.  He lapped it up, but it wasn't as if he hadn't eaten in ages.  Since I don't eat ice cream that much, he hasn't had another chance, and as I often have a topping on the ice cream, I wouldn't let him have any anyway. 

Mary Ann

Larry, thank you for "interview with God." It is beautiful.

Good Morning everyone.

Weather is humid and the temps for today and the next two or three days will be in the 90s.

I just learned that the West Nile virus has been detected in mosquitos in this area: East Pennsboro Township, Harrisburg, Highspire, Lemoyne, Lykens and a few others. Fortunately, no human infections reported. Between the heat, humidity and the bugs, I guess I will have to forgo more yardwork than necessary for a while.

MarsGal, bugs just take advantage of everything, don't they?  I haven't heard of them in West Michigan yet, but who knows!

At 9:30 we are at 70 already. 

Today I am lunching with my retiree friends and there may be four or five of us.  As usual, we will be in the south end of town because the others all live in that direction. 

Mary Ann

  Hi everyone. This morning starts off nice and sunny but we will see cloudy this afternoon with a small chance of any rain.  Besides some household chores, many of which I have already accomplished, the only thing on tap for today is meeting Scott and Jennifer at Diablos for dinner fairly early this evening and then they will be out to spend a couple of hours.  Pat and Jennifer had an enjoyable time out yesterday visiting JoAnn's and then having a good meal at a Chinese Buffet that is right next door to JoAnn's. When they got home they sat down and Pat started to show her how to croquet and realized that Jennifer was left handed.  So Jennifer will have to learn from some videos on the Internet.  Pat said she knew that it was difficult for a right handed person to teach a left handed person to do that.  Pat is going to let Jennifer have the portable Bernina sewing machine she has as it is too heavy for Pat to take anywhere and she has a regular Bernina in her sewing studio and the Singer Featherweight downstairs in the sun room so no longer has a need for the other machine.   

For the first time in a number of days I felt good yesterday and got out as planned and made quick stops at a hardware store, had lunch, made a quick stop at Walmart looking for something I didn't find, and finally stopped at Aldi's.  Rather than watch TV last evening Pat and I elected to listen to our audiobooks.

I just went out into the back yard and did a little trimming of a bush and some vines that are wanting to grow through the wooden fence.  I can put them at the street tomorrow and the city will pick them up. It has been awhile since I felt like tackling such a job and think I have probably used up my energy reserve for today.

Mary Ann, the problem with the written word with my statement on knit and croquet.  I do understand the difference.  I don't think they bought any knitting needles or supplies yesterday but did get a couple of latch hook projects for Jennifer to work on. After the first of July or a week or two earlier stop wearing a tie and coat to Church as it is too hot.  Probably in Seprember I will change back to coat and tie rather than an open neck shirt. Obviously Tom is serious about the Weight Watchers program and what he cooks.  At least the birds I had in the nest on my front porch were small so the deposits were also small but still a mess to clean up.  The cabbages and dandelions that were very large and perfect are some of the vivid memories I have of living in Anchorage. 

Jeanne, your saving scrap yarns and making something out of them sound like my wife who saves every scrap of material and other crafting materials and usually find use for them.

Patricia, that 127 pound cabbage would sure make a lot of coleslaw. 

Patricia, thanks for the link to the crochet and knot patterns.  I have sent it to both of them.  It sounds like the bears are aggressive this year or is it just that people are careless where they walk.  It sounds like your flowers are beautiful. 

MarsGal, I saw a report that they are probably going to release a bunch of mosquitos in Florida that apparently will be able to eliminate many of the mosquitos that carry the West Nile Virus.  Our city has a aggressive mosquito control program and spray the neighborhoods I think once a week to control them during the mosquito season.  I sure hope no humans get infected by them. 

Here is a map from CDC that was updated last week showing the states where West Nile is detected if you are curious.  https://www.cdc.gov/westnile/statsmaps/preliminarymapsdata2017/activitystate.html  I notice that they are reporting not just mosquito and birds but also other animals as well in the non-human section. Here is an interesting fact sheet on West NIle Fever from Iowa State University. http://www.cfsph.iastate.edu/FastFacts/pdfs/west_nile_fever_F.pdf

Hello. We were welcomed this morning by 77 degrees and an already sunny morning with more to come as the day continues.

MarsGal, since Alaska is known for it's huge almost mythically birdlike in stature, mosquitos. I looked at your chart and I noticed three things. One, as usual, only the continental US is shown, as a country. Two, That even in the midst of dark green states, some totally white states were found. And three, after Googling, I found that incidences with the virus had been found everywhere, (At least somewhere in each of the 48 states.);  except for Alaska and Hawaii. So then I turned to Canada. They show no cases from 2017, but list these from 2002 through 2016. Their cases are centered in Eastern Canada or around their portions of the great lakes.

2002: 414 cases
2003: 1481 cases
2004: 25 cases
2005: 225 cases
2006: 151 cases
2007: 2215 cases
2008: 36 cases
2009: 13 cases
2010: 5 cases
2011: 101 cases
2012: 428 cases
2013: 115 cases
2014: 21 cases
2015: 80 cases
2016: 104 cases

Either what they are doing works, or it could be determined by weather patterns, or Alaska and Hawaii which both have mosquito populations are protected by distance or by waterways. It could be a disaster for Alaska which has so much inland lakes, rivers, and streams and is then bound by large waterways.oceans, gulfs, and seas. I hope we are thinking of forewarned is forearmed.

Yesterday I had two meetings, one of which was meeting with the Borough's Emergency Manager who turned out to be a new hire and is getting to know folks after his predecessor left. Our emergency preparedness committee has been gathering materials for "go bags" and learning new information so had invited him to come and visit with us. Surprisingly, the building's company is unprepared since many of our truly bedridden are on upper floors and there are a number who have walkers, scooters or other paraphernalia which would make evacuating hard if not dangerous. There also might be those who needed to be warned repeatedly about not trying to use the elevators.

I learned two other things. One is that the incoming age has been dropped from 62 to 60 and that our building has been changed from senior only to senior preference. Other things remain the same, the John Wayne mentality that everyone, only partially disabled needs to pull their own selves up by their bootstraps, and needing help and receiving that help are still determined by political means rather than honest assessment and that the Borough really hasn't changed plans made in the mid-sixties. A good example is we are short of several thousand beds if needed in an emergency.

Also, what was disturbing to many is that the Borough has a very limited assessment of service animals needing a special dispensation and limited to dogs. A plan for all other pets in a disaster would be using limited areas at the local kill shelter or staging an area at the state fairgrounds that would be operated by Borough employees if space was available and not when the Fair was in session and using all spaces, as happened once during some fire evacuations of neighboring villages.

The manager and our liaison spoke briefly about the current political climate and on lower donations and help to depend on many criteria and priorities. What I think we all gleaned from that was to depend on ourselves and not the Borough.

Good evening, it has been a hot day, it show 100 in my Florida room.

I did go out, as my friend Cathy came by and invited me to lunch.  I could not refuse.  After lunch, we walked around in Walgreens, I said I did not need anything, but before I left I had spent $16 dollars. I went because  Cath needed milk. Then we went to the farm stand for local tomatoes, corn and potatoes.

MaryAnn, hope your luncheon went well, sounded like a fun get together.

Larry, we have giant mosquitos they, that are called mosquitoes hawks, and they catch regular mosquitos.  They are spraying around here to night.

MarsGal, this past week 3 birds were caught that had West Nile Disease.  When we find dead birds in the yard, mostly black birds we have to call the police or board of health.   Tick are very bad this year because of the warm winter. now they have found a new tick, that is even more dangerous.  the deer, rabbit and other animals are full of them they say.  I have had tick fever twice.

M

Gloria, that spending the unexpected $16. has a name. Here it is known as the Two hundred dollar milk syndrome.   

We have a small black and white bird here that is much in demand. It is called a mosquito hawk and eats up to four times its weight in mosquitos daily.

I made a mistake (how unusual for me  ) in writing that the older Prius we bought ran 21 mpg - well, we tested going uphill (mountain) and it ran 51 mpg.  So, we are satisfied. 

Wjoan:  On where would you go if fire warning - I meant, would you have to abandon the building, or town?  A cousin's daughter with family north of Chelan had to evacuate twice last year.  I think about it sometimes as we have a ravine in back here.  Just the air can become so dangerous.  With so much Beetle Kill in the trees in the mountains here, there is no way of containing a fire.

We lost a good friend to West Nile Virus (a mosquito bite) two years ago.  She lived in Scottsdale, AZ and there are a few cases in that area - however, they had been traveling.

A welcome rain is happening right now - the heavy winds are not welcome. 

Mary Ann:  Amazing is the word!  Now I know Hillsdale is in Michigan.  Thanks

A friend and I treated our good friend to brunch today - her birthday.  For 6 1/2 years she has steadfastly cared for a cancer-ridden husband.  He is so very weak now but his eyes lit up when I mentioned Don wanted to fix Biscuits and Gravy for one of their meals.  She had a traumatic fall on ice on Easter  weekend - she still will need an elbow surgery and one more hand surgery.  They are the most inspirational people we know - always looking on the good  side of life.  We were meant to meet.  A home health aide assists him 3 half days per week - that sure isn't enough for their circumstances.  somehow, they cope with a daughter on weekends and neighbors doing a bit. 

Just saw sad news on Senator McCain that he has brain cancer.

Gloria de, there were four of us at lunch.  We go to a different restaurant every month.  Actually, we meet in the summer months as two of them go south for the winter.  Two of the four are widows.  Since they all live south, we usually eat in the south end.  I live about 10 miles north of where we ate today and they don't care about coming north so I don't suggest it.

I nearly didn't go today as I felt "blah"; I think the heat got to me.  The restaurant was air conditioned and that helped a lot.  The manager of the restaurant where we were today is the man who washes my windows.  I didn't see him today, but I did the last time we ate there and he was surprised to see me so far from home.

We are a group who had our coffee breaks together when we worked.  They all retired after I did so they contacted me when they did retire and we've been lunching ever since - at least 25 years.

My computer says the temperature is 85 degrees and that is too warm for 9:30 at night. 

I'm listening to a TV channel that has "Singers & Swing" and it is nice listening.  Sometimes I have Light Classical music on; the music is continual.

Carol, I had read where Mc Cain had brain surgery, but had not yet heard it was cancer.  How sad.

Mary Ann

Carol, it is put up by the Weather site.  I am assuming that due to high temp and no air blowing there is a real good chance of fire so be careful.  This is my assumption anyway.

I am very to hear the sad news on Senator John McCain, 
that he has brain cancer..


Sandy

I read the other day that those huge mosquitoes are the unofficial bird of Alaska.    I also found out that most of the mosquitoes that carry West Nile are from the Culex branch and are primarily night flyers. I am not usually out at night or in the evening, but I do try to get out early-ish (mostly after 9am) to do yardwork or mow the lawn when it is hot. I have taken to wearing long sleeves and a hat, plus spraying where skin is exposed. The long sleeves work better than the sprays I have tried so far. The day biting mosquitoes have a field day if I don't. I've always been a great mosquito attractant.

My thoughts are also for Senator McCain's recovery. They found the brain cancer when they went to do surgery on a blood clot. Although they said it is an aggressive cancer, I am hoping they caught it early.

Hi everyone. We have a nice sunny morning and it is going to be in the mid-90's today.  It looks like it is going to be another good day for me as feel like doing things this morning.  I will take my friend or coffee and back to his care home and then plan on going back to the Church for the Wisdom group, which I have not attended for the last couple of weeks. 

We had a nice dinner at Diablos with Scott and Jennifer and then a very pleasant evening with them.  For the last three weeks or so they have been playing a little game called Farkle and they really enjoy it.  It is a little game played with six dice and the score is determined by what is thrown in two tries.  I will probably watch some of the British Open Golf Tournament, although the time difference may interfere with that as it is already on this morning.  I see the Jordan Spieth is off to a very good start and currently leads.

I am running out of time this morning before I will need to leave so will limit my comments today.

MarsGal, glad to see on the CDC chart that South Carolina has had no reports of West Nile Virus activity. 

Patricia, I would think the Fire Department would need to have a current list of residents who would need evacuation in an emergency. 

Carol, I was surprised when I read the 21 MPH on the Prius as know the higher MPG is the selling feature of the Prius.

Sandy, I was also shocked by the news of the brain cancer that Senator McCain has. 

I think we're headed for a mid-80 degree day today.  It was sprinkling when I got up a couple of hours ago but radar shows no rain coming our way.

Either I need a new mouse or a new mouse pad because the mouse catches on the pad occasionally.  Neither is new.  I know where I can find another mouse and I may get that one, but I'm not sure that is the answer.  A new mouse would cost less than $20 and a mouse pad would be about the same or less.  This is a case if I were still driving, I'd go buy either or both, but I have to rely on Tom and he doesn't always do things right away!

Mary Ann

My mistake:  the used Prius gets 51 mpg.  It is easy to park but still roomy enough.  That is enough advertising. 

Now, for a cup of coffee.  I did my treadmill holding a weight in one hand at a time.  Listening to a morning radio show that is almost always interesting.  Then, we have a stationary bike too - I fell off my former regular bike when I couldn't stop and rode right into the mail boxes.  That was the end of biking for me! 

We are going to be cooler today, only in the high 80's.

It's smokey outside this morning. There are lots of wild fires going on in Northern CA, so I'm not sure where this smoke is coming from?  The fire near Yosemite is the worst, but that's far to the East of us, so we shouldn't get smoke from that direction. 

Our "house guest", Cocoa the Chocolate Lab, will be going home on Saturday. He is sweet and well behaved, but it's hard to take care of such a large dog, plus of course, he and Winnie aren't friendly. Winnie is still sleeping in his basement retreat, but he now does come upstairs during the day, but keeps a wary eye on Cocoa, at all times.  They mostly just sit and look at each other. 

We've had a number of cases of West Nile, reported in California. Some mosquito spraying going on in certain areas, but so far not here.  The heat continues to build up here, and it's supposed to be 100 degrees again by the weekend.  I hope they get the fires under control before then.

For those who might be interested, there is a Trivia Quiz over in games...You are all welcome to try out your answers

Good morning from another damp and perhaps rainy Interior. We are presently at 64 degrees F. and headed up into the early eighties for our high. These are our official temperatures. I have 71 presently on my northwest facing balcony.  Marilyne, I hope your fires are soon contained with minimal damage done. As of Tuesday, 502 fires have swept across Alaska's Interior, burning nearly 400,000 acres of land, according to the Alaska Interagency Coordination Center. However, we have had only a little smoke which is unusual judging by past summers' experiences.

We are in the midst of a huge arboreal forest and it is driven by a fire ecology so this is somewhat expected and prepared for in the Interior. It is a huge difference from when the pine and spruce beetles ravaged our woods and we had in 2014, by July 26th, 500,000 acres burnt with a Tanana fire, just miles from here, burning 496,000 acres by July 28th of that year. 2015 saw 10.1 million acres burnt. Other than those beetles fueled records, we generally have regular fire seasons with some burning into the next summers by situating in moss and river hummocks. The difference is we do not have the large cities in the way of these fires. But there is homesteaders, villages, travelers, etc. Many of the villagers have trained extensively and hold "Hotshot" rankings and are often sent into Canada and other states to assist in other areas' fires. Thus providing more than just subsistence for their families and villages.

We are in the midst of Golden Days, a regular two week July celebration for our town's founding and we will again host some members of Felix Pedro's family from Italy as our honored guests. We will have our annual parade and rubber duckie river race tomorrow and I will probably attend if the weather is pleasant. Two events you might be interested in learning about are a one thousand mile riverboat race with three men crews both starting and finishing in Fairbanks and an annual golf tournament beginning at midnight, a twin to the one held on the summer solstice.

Fairbanks came together when E.T. Barnette, a trader was let off by his traveling paddle wheeler when the river became too shallow for the boat. He was very upset as his goods were meant for a more traveled town and not abject wilderness. He quickly changed his mind when Felix Pedroni, an Italian miner, came out of the woods with a  huge gold nugget looking for supplies in 1902. Thus both Fairbanks and the Alaskan gold rush were birthed. The city was incorporated in 1903 so as a city, it is fairly new. Anchorage was laid out and built for and by the railroad, in 1914 when the township was platted.

Larry, I'm sure the local fire department has some type of plan in place. However, the borough is the same as what you might call a county and it is estimated that it is about 80,000 beds short for an extensive emergency. Where would you put these people and their pets, racing dogs and or livestock? What priorities would you set? And why hasn't that plan changed recently? Since Fairbanks is usually the go to evacuation plan for the borough, you can see why the concern.

MarsGal, I can appreciate your concern. Yes, we do consider our mosquitos as unofficial state birds only slightly in jest. You can buy special mosquito leghold traps in many of our gift shops.    I used to be fairly immune to the pests but for some reason, they have begun to like my aged blood. I once read that only female mosquitos bite and that it is for their eggs. I also read that we as humans are their second choice as they prefer animals. Now, why don't I feel special? 

We used to have regular spraying in the summer but concerns were raised about the chemicals being used and the times of the spraying so I know it is now done in the wee hours but not what chemical combination now in use.

Well, Farrah has been tapping my arms a lot and speaking to me about something, probably her treats, so I better go see what she wants.

Here's hoping it's a good day for everyone!

Is Your Pet’s Food Safe?

By Jennifer Coates    July 11, 2017

"Did you hear about the recent Clean Label Project study into pet foods? The organization screened more than 900 dog and cat foods and treats for over 130 toxins “including heavy metals, BPA, pesticides, and other contaminants with links to cancer and other health conditions in both humans and animals.”

The pet food products they tested were from 71 brands that represented “the top 90 percent of the best-selling products in each category.” What they found was eye-opening, to say the least. Here are some of the key findings:

Some pet food contains 2,420 parts per billion (ppb) of lead, which is 16 times more than has been found in Flint, Michigan’s “tainted” water (158 ppb).
1,917 percent more arsenic was present in pet food (5,550 ppb) than in cigarette tobacco (360 ppb).
There was 980 percent more BPA (bisphenol A) in pet food in comparison to a can of chicken soup."

http://www.petmd.com/news/view/your-pets-food-safe-36136?roi=echo3-45455986174-43354653-66f4ba53c78732fe7f1f064b834e23ae&utm_source=BlogSubscribers&utm_medium=Email&utm_content=072017blog&utm_campaign=Blog

I am a little shocked, Angel, that most of the expensive stuff I have been feeding my cats is lower rated than the cheaper stuff George is feeding his. Arrggggh!  Thanks for posting the article. I've forwarded it on to my best friend who has five cats.

Do you remember when it came out that our cats and dogs were being poisoned by Chinese animal food mixed with melamine? One thing that came out about the same time was the fact that many of the animal feeds were exactly the same. The more expensive kind was simply cut into more defined shapes with the inexpensive more kibbles and dust? One example was IAMS cat food being the exact same as the bargain store brand and more of the same regardless of name or advertising?

According to industry notes, that hasn't changed. They simply waited until the public's attention was diverted. Everyone should educate themselves to their pets needs by age, weight, and size and then, read, read, read the labels! Another point is cats are primarily predators and meat eaters. Taurine, an animal protein that is absolutely essential to cats is only found in meat protein. Yet several brands either professional or touted by various sites proclaim themselves to be the very best vegetarian foods for cats and for dogs. Now it is fine and even healthier for humans to go full or part time vegetarian as long as they have good protein substitutes but it is not for cats or dogs but especially cats. Some folks believe that all it takes is an inclination to turn an animal's physiology into what a human deems acceptable.

I hope you all are sharing these animal stories/comments with the  Forum for animal discussion.  Seems only fair.

Hi everyone. Another very hot day on tap here in South Carolina going up into the mid-90's by afternoon.  When I came out of the Church yesterday about 12:45 the car registered the outside temperature at 107 (the car had been parked in the sun0 and the inside must have been 120 or so.  It took a little bit for the A/C to cool things down. 

I have two things on the agenda for today.  I have my appointment at the GP's office at 10:30 and then will go to Walmart to pick up the online grocery order Pat put in yesterday.  The rest of the day will be spent inside where it is cool. 

Mary Ann, sometimes we simply wear out the mouse we use on the computer.  Over the years I have had to buy several mice for both Pat and I.  She actually uses the mouse more than I do as she often plays games that require many clicks.

Marilyne, I guess the smoke from the wildfires can be carried on the wind currents for long distances.  I saw a little cartoon this morning of a big dog with a tiny cat sitting in front of it.  The cat told the dog you are bigger than I am but I am a cat and I am the boss.  At least Winnie hasn't had to spend all of his time in the basement.

Patricia, interesting story of how Fairbanks was started.  I guess I was thinking of your town and the Borough as pretty much the same in terms of emergency planning.  Hope there is nice weather for your Golden Days event.  A two week celebration is a long time.   

I am kind of watching the British Open and they just showed some of the area of Liverpool where the Beatles came from.  The terrain of the golf course is "something else".  The wind doesn't help any and the rain has been hard at times. 

Our temps are in the low 80s now and I haven't been outside except to place the trash in front of the garage.  I will go after the mail soon.

Larry, I have trouble controlling the touch pad and I've always used a mouse with my laptops.  My Meijer supermarket handles computer supplies, so I will ask Tom to pick one up the next time he's in the store.  My mouse pad is old too and that can stand replacing. 

Mary Ann