BEAU APPARENTLY ON THE ROAD TO RECOVERY

Flowering Ornamental Oregano  and Cherry Tomatoes Finally Make an Appearance.  

Well it appears that Beau may be getting better.  He gets regular B-12 shots and a new hypo-allergenic diet of venison and sweet potatoes.  The result is he's not longer suffering from chronic diarrhea, at least it's stopped for the time being.  I'm thrilled.  It only took a year and many trips to the vet. I'm glad I changed vets because the new vet suggested right away that we had to change his diet and start giving him vitamin B-12 shots, just to eliminate a lack of b-12 in his system as a culprit.  Apparently it is.  I'll have to give him shots once a month for the rest of his life, once the weekly six-week treatment of shots is completed. There's more spring in the old boy's step (he just turned eight). A sickly pet is the worst thing. It just makes you feel so helpless.  

He spent Saturday in a few laps, where he likes to be when I have company.  His only sin is a summer excess of shedding.  Well...that's what vacuums are for. 


Between the Republican antics in Washington, the astonishing, but not surprising scandal that is engulfing Rupert Murdoch's media empire, and now the news that Charlie Sheen has landed a new TV sitcom, my last nerve is kaput.  


The debt ceiling crisis is Republican obstruction, plain and simple.  They are willing to take down the entire US economy down around our ears because they hate the idea of a black man in the White House. Disgusting. It's not about the debt ceiling.  They had the ability to stop George Bush's profligate spending and didn't.  Two grotesquely expensive and never-ending wars, a misguided drug program, and a too-cozy relationship with Wall Street with whom every politician in Washington, D. C. depends has crippled Republican credibility.  If they don't fix this, I'll be staring at a fourth round of Wall Street financial blood-letting and my retirement portfolio can't handle any more setbacks. They are going to be forced to restoring tax cuts for the rich and for corporations. It's the only way out.  I hope President Obama holds Republican feet to the fire because they deserve all the bad will they will get if the economy collapses again. 


I'm in no mood to defend Rebekah Brooks, the ousted News Corp editor disgraced in the phone-hacking scandal that embroiled Rupert Murdoch's media empire. But there's more than a touch of sexism in the criticism aimed at her.  The editorials I read all insinuate that her ambition to climb into the rarefied arena of the rich and powerful has cost her dearly.  That's absurd.  There are plenty of people who rise from modest beginnings to great wealth and success and don't break the law to do it. The whole political and financial world has looked the other way as Murdoch has pushed the legality envelope in his quest to be master of the media universe.  His papers and his TV networks fabricate the truth.  He's ownership of so many media properties begs the question of where are the anti-trust protectors out there?  With Murdoch, it always seems to be the greasy wheel getting oiled.  I'm feeling a lot of Schadenfreude as this story unfolds. Right now it looks like his son and maybe even the Prime Minister of England could be facing the unemployment line.  How nice that a few of the powerful of the world are experiencing the pain of not only being out of work, but humiliated in the process.  Tsk, tsk!


The world doesn't always play fair.  Charlie Sheen is going back to work in a TV series as a star who has a major financial stake in the project--an adaptation of a Jack Nicholson film called Anger Management. So he'll be paid millions to basically play himself. Now there's a show I wont' be watching. 


Isn't it amazing the garbage that's out there in the news today!!!???

The rains came back for a few days, making my grass grow and grow. My roses are beset with black spot, which forces me to constantly strip leaves off the bushes.  I new lily bloomed yesterday and was greeted with a torrential downpour, lasting much of the morning and into the early afternoon  Not even Beau wanted to be in that deluge.  It's sunny again on this Monday, but still cool.  While the East Coast swelters, it's currently 75 in my back yard, and the inside of my house is a very cool 67.

The lettuce is growing like it is on steroids!

There are tons of blueberries at the farmer's market, and my four bushes are just beginning to ripen, so I'll make blueberry jam this weekend. 


I've scheduled my driving test for Friday, August 5th.  Wish me luck.  


Summer.