Monday, August 10, 2020

More Griping and Dismemberment


OK, now I'm cranky. First, our Internet router is being weak and temperamental and I had to move to the dining room in order to even connect. Then I was trying (again) to use New Blogger and not only does it annoy me because the spacing is wrong and the pictures not uniformly centered, but when I upload multiple pictures at a time, they show up in reverse order in my post! WHY?! WHY?!

All right...breathing...letting it go...

I just hope someone at Blogger checks its users' blogs, because I have a feeling this is where the real feedback is happening. I am dutifully sending in comments, though. And I have switched back to Legacy to finish this post.

That flower above is one of the little borage seedlings I transplanted from the pot of our passionflower vine -- which was colonized by its parent -- to its own pot, which I've set in the wildflower patch. I can't believe it's blooming already! It's much bigger than any of the other seedlings. Funny how some plants are just more robust than others.


Olga and I took a walk to the cemetery yesterday, and yes, that meant another mud bath. It's amazing how we can be in the middle of a dry spell, the ground dusty and hard, and Olga will manage to find the one damp spot in the landscape. (In this case, underneath a water spigot.)


These intriguing little snow globes were left on someone's headstone. Did they love London, or did they love snow globes? Or both?


Meanwhile, some tragic gymnastics accident appears to have befallen the naked dolls.

I saw no fewer than four Jersey tiger moths yesterday. I wonder if they've had a really good year for some reason? They used to be unusual in London, but I've seen at least one every year since 2014, when we moved into this flat, and the last few summers I've seen several. Am I getting more observant, or the moths more numerous?

22 comments:

David said...

Great pictures as always! Love the one with Olga in the mud!

Yorkshire Pudding said...

Apparently, Olga is making a visible statement in support of the "Black Lives Matter" movement and she is also grinning about it.

Linda Sue said...

OH my -the gymnasts are limber, one in the middle getting a closer look- all in pink heels, wow those girls must practice all day and night to achieve those skills. Olga made me laugh the snort laugh that is so unattractive , Olga just has that effect, What a cute dog!
I am not sure I can cope with the new improved blogger unless I take drugs.I tried it once and I just wanted to punch it in the face.

Fresca said...

I gave up on New Blogger pretty much right away. Obviously a botched job.
Thanks for giving the feedback--they'd be crazy to force all of us to adopt this buggy version: I'd probably move to Word Press.

I'd blogged about the naive young man who insisted you can choose to be happy. It's not that easy, but if there's anything that boosts happiness, it's gotta be a happy dog, like Olga here.

Anonymous said...

Old Blogger was supposed to be shut down by now. It hasn't been for good reasons, as you can see by the way my photos overlap my text. I am back to old Blogger.

Mary said...

You may be having dry weather (besides Olga being her own water whisperer), but yesterday I found two mushrooms growing in a pot of geraniums on my deck. Haven't needed to water them because we've 10"+ rain the past week--6" of those in one morning. Olga would have absolutely no trouble finding water or a mud patch here.

Moving with Mitchell said...

I have never seen Jersey tiger moths except on your blog. So beautiful. That's what those gymnasts get for performing in heels! Whose idea was that? Good luck with internet service! (Oh, and getting any help from blogger.)

ellen abbott said...

perhaps the moths are migrating? or maybe this is the time or year they become moths. or maybe now you've seen one, you SEE them.

I wonder who arranges the dolls for the entertainment of the dead.

Michael said...

Olga looks like she's in heaven!

The Bug said...

I always love an Olga grin - it definitely helps me tolerate Monday a little better!

Re: Picmonkey - they're changing (I think) because flash is going away, and their old version used flash. But they've done a TOTAL revamp & now I can't figure out how to do what I want to do. I'll bet I'll figure it out once I can't use the old version anymore!

Sharon said...

I feel your pain. Being in the software business, I can't even imagine turning the new blogger out to the public the way it is. Those snow globes are fun but those Barbies are looking a bit tragic. As far as the router is concerned, having recently gone through that, my solution was a new modem-router combination. It seems to be working. However, my work computer still has moments when it loses its connection but now they only last 5 minutes at most. Before it wouldn't connect at all.

Anonymous said...

I'm waiting for Blogger to fix all the problems before I even try the new way. The stuff I've been reading about it makes me very wary. I can't figure out why they even wanted to change the format.
Interesting doll arrangement. Creativity expressed in such interesting ways.

Ms. Moon said...

Maybe the way I've been using blogger to post pictures and so forth was so misguided that it works the same in the new blogger. Who knows?
Oh, those gymnastic naked dolls. One wonders if they practice at night.
Olga equals joy.

Edna B said...

Hang in there, I'm sure Blogger will settle down sometime soon. So the photos aren't centered. They still look great. I just love love that photo of Olga. She's really enjoying that little puddle. Enjoy your day, hugs, Edna B.

Susan said...

Apparently, Blogger doesn't follow the "if it's not broken, don't fix it" rule of thumb. I am finding the new Blogger extremely irritating. I love borage - such beautiful flowers and the bees love them. There's something so creepy about those Barbie-type dolls, clothed or not. Olga must have had relatives from the veldt - nothing cools you down like a mud bath. Or so I've heard.

Catalyst said...

The objects left on tombstones constantly amaze me. Olga looks good, even muddy, as usual.

gz said...

I am using new blogger ok..no problem with the pics.
The way you describe, wasn't that how blogger was when I started over 12 years ago?

John Going Gently said...

I've always thought of you as so even tempered
It's nice to think you get cranky

Cheryl West said...

Sorry, I'm trying to catch up on blogs again, no power for awhile last week.
Anyway, the borage is lovely. Mine didn't last long this year.
Olga always looks so happy when muddy.
Who ever arranged the Barbies must have been thinking of the intro to the Graham Norton Show.
I hope you are surviving more hot weather in London. Another awful week here in CT and no real rain for weeks.

jenny_o said...

Your blog titles lately have been smashing :)

I wonder how dogs manage to find mud? It must be the smell, I guess. Even humans with their measly tiny number of smell receptors can smell mud. Dogs would have no problem.

Alphie Soup said...

Cranky old Steve - with good reason.
So someone comes along and rearranges those dolls. Weird is all I can say but I'm sure there's a back story there.
Lovely to have the moths in your garden.
Alphie

Steve Reed said...

David: She loves her mud baths!

YP: She is an enthusiastic supporter.

Linda Sue: Yeah, I'm not really a fan, but I did discover a secret that is helping me cope. (See subsequent post!)

Fresca: A dog is a HUGE contributor to daily happiness, at least in my case.

Andrew: Yeah, what's causing that, I wonder? Can you resize the photos?

Mary: Wow, that's a lot of rain. I am incredibly jealous. We could use a good hard rain like that.

Mitchell: Apparently they're from the Channel Islands and France, but they're becoming more widespread in England.

Ellen: I do think it's a time-of-year thing -- this is when they become adults and fly -- but I also think they're becoming more common here.

Michael: Oh, she is! She loves mud.

Bug: Hmmmm. I wish I knew of an alternate service to suggest, but I never do photo mosaics. :(

Sharon: We moved the router and now it seems to be working much better. I don't know why it took us so long to figure this out. LOL

Robin: I know, that's the question -- why make the change at all? It doesn't seem like anyone was clamoring for it.

Ms Moon: I think it all has to do with how particular people are about their layouts. If they're flexible about line spacing and picture location, it's not such a problem. And now that you're using larger type, those things may not be as obvious? Just guessing.

Edna: But I want them centered! I'm a neat freak! LOL

Susan: I know. I am mystified about why they made these changes. I love borage too! Hopefully we'll have a lot of it soon enough!

Catalyst: It's a very interesting cemetery in that regard.

GZ: I don't remember having problems with Blogger at the outset, though I do recall that I eventually had to readjust the width of my template to accommodate bigger pictures. (Maybe that's Andrew's problem, above?)

John: Oh, Lord, I do get cranky. Ask Dave!

Cheryl: They ARE very Graham Norton! The guy who's buried in that grave was an architect. What that has to do with Barbies (or Barbie look-alikes) I'm not sure.

Jenny-O: Ha! That's good to hear. I was never great at writing headlines.

Alphie: I suspect multiple people move those dolls around. It's sort of a community project. LOL