Thursday, April 8, 2021

Laughing Gas


Well, the good news is, it looks like all the plants coped just fine with the frost. The geraniums are still inside -- I'll put them out today, at least until the weekend when it's supposed to get cold again -- but everything else pulled through. Even the azalea flowers.

This little primrose (above) is on the verge of blooming, and I'm sure it won't be slowed down by frost. Primroses don't mind the cold.


The forget-me-nots were unfazed, too.


At first, the teasels looked a little battered and bruised (above), but as the day wore on they perked right back up. Of course, they're notoriously tough plants -- basically weeds. As my mother would say, "You can't kill 'em with a stick."

I accomplished basically nothing yesterday -- some minor housecleaning, some laundry. I went through my clothes, our books and our odds-and-ends and collected a pile of stuff that I plan to donate to charity when the shops reopen next week. I watched the movie "Magnolia," which is a perennial favorite of mine.

Olga, on the other hand, had a banner day. I let her out into the garden in the morning and the next thing I knew, she was wolfing down what looked like a frozen meat pie or burrito. I have no idea why it was lying in our garden -- probably the foxes pulled it out of someone's trash -- but she was thrilled and it was gone before I could stop her. There have been no ill effects.

Later, I took her for a walk and, on the next street over, found a pile of debris where some kids apparently sat on a curb doing whip-its (inhaling nitrous oxide, or laughing gas). There were ten open boxes of cream chargers, each containing 24 pellets, scattered all over the road. I picked them all up, put them in a plastic bag and carried them to the corner trash bin, and of course just as I arrived, the trash guys were there to empty the bin! Just my luck! These bins are routinely neglected, filled beyond overflowing, but when I show up with a bag of sketchy, embarrassing trash they're suddenly getting attention. I asked the trash guy if I could contribute my bag and he said yes, and I'm hoping he didn't look inside it and conclude that I'm a nitrous oxide addict. Not that he knows me or will ever see me again, but still.

I thought I might try to take a walk today, but I'm not sure how energetic I'm feeling and it's still freakin' cold out there. Maybe I'll knock down another Newbery book instead.

38 comments:

  1. I notice from today's edition of The Guardian (online) that the Queen is opening Buckingham Palace Gardens for the first time ever from 9 July to 19 Sept. I do hope you are going - I would love to see what the gardens are like. Details are on the Royal Collection Trust website. I won't post the link (I don't know what the rules are about links) so here it is in words. Just replace the words in capital letters as necessary.
    rctDOTukFORWARDSLASHvisitFORWARDSLASHbuckingham-palace or follow the links from the Guardian story.
    Incidentally I am still gagging that Olga wolfed down something in your back garden.

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    1. I will probably try to get tickets, but my understanding is the competition is fierce.

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  2. For a day of accomplishing basically nothing, I'd say you accomplished quite a lot. I'll watch The Guardian for the article on the nitrous-oxide—using school librarian.

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    1. I felt like I was dumping a big bag of used syringes!

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  3. Some days are for pottering about and not achieving much. Have you just got this week for your Easter hols?

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    1. Yeah, we're back at work on Monday. I'm ready, actually.

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  4. It sounds like you did quite enough. I have learnt in retirement not to feel guilty if you do FA. There is always tomorrow.

    I had a mental image of your mother beating teasels to mush with a stick.

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    1. I've always wondered where she got that expression. It's such a strange thing to say and I don't think I've ever heard it from anyone else.

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  5. Wonderful Olga Girl Day - Always A Banner Day With Happy Dog Walks And Ground Scores - Whip Its, Never Found The Desire To Consume - My Friends Loved Them And Bending Over Hyperventilating And All That - So Thanx For Picking Up The Trash - Good Karma Coupons

    Cheers
    P.S. Hide An Uncle T Biscuits Under The Pink Blanket When A Certain Someone Isn't Looking

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    1. I've never done whip-its, I gotta say. I'm way too square for that! LOL

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  6. Olga might think the back garden is the new hot spot of her day, with such delicacies to be found!

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    1. She once pulled a sandwich out of a hedge on one of her walks, and for years afterwards she always checked that hedge. A dog doesn't forget.

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  7. I remember my Grandmother used to dye the teasel heads and use them in flower decorations.
    Briony
    x

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    1. They're very sculptural flowers -- one reason why we like growing them!

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  8. Oh, Steve! I wouldn't worry about having sketchy, embarrassing trash! You were merely being a good citizen and the garbage collection people probably couldn't give a damn anyway.

    Olga! Haha! She had a stellar day for a dog!

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    1. I'm sure you're right. I was amazed at how heavy that bag was. All those steel pellets weigh a lot!

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  9. Oh Steve- your handing over of the whippits to the trash man sounds like a Ricky Gervais bit in one of his series. Doing your duty, going out of your way- and then to possibly be thought of as someone who is inhaling nitrous for kicks. Life is just ridiculous sometimes.
    That little primrose is the sweetest thing ever. Delicate and strong as so many of the best things are.

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    1. I just could not believe that the trash guys were there RIGHT AT THAT MOMENT. Like, two minutes earlier or later and I'd have been in the clear.

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  10. We see garbage like that all the time here. Nitrous Oxide must be a trend. I remember when my dentist used to use it 40 years ago, but I don't recall it being something I'd want to do sitting on a curb somewhere. It's so good of you to clean that stuff up. I keep thinking I should carry a garbage bag with me when I go out for a walk, but I never remember.
    Your frosty flowers are so pretty.

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    1. I've heard of people using it recreationally, but it wasn't until I came to London that I saw the physical evidence. Those little metal gas canisters can often be found on the streets here. I'm surprised they sell them so freely. I wonder if they're regulated in the states?

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  11. I'm glad the plants seem to have survived the freeze. I hope you can get out for a walk but I know it's not always fun when it's too cold.

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    1. Yeah, I wasn't motivated yesterday. Maybe today!

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  12. kids gotta drug! Thank you for being a good citizen and I am sure the bin men are not judgmental- look at what they pick up every day, much worse I am sure! I went to a dentist before I found the best one in the universe- and he overdosed me on nitrus, probably lost a good portion of brain cells there. Dennis would not even have it in his practice it is so bad! Brain eating bad! "Just say NO".
    Your garden is a wonder! Just the right amount of space, too!
    The pie that Olga ate was likely a steak and kidney pie, , not even fit for a fox!

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    1. I've never experienced nitrous oxide. By the time I was going to dentists they'd all switched to Novocaine. You're right -- I'm sure those trash guys see all kinds of crazy, outlandish debris.

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  13. I don't know about the nitrous oxide inhaling. That can't be good. Makes me sad to hear about it.
    Your flowers are surviving and that's good news.

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    1. It's amazing what people will do looking for a high!

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  14. Tucson is one of the littering capitals of the world. Plastic bags dangle from the cactus, the ground is covered in broken glass and trash. Whippets are popular here. For a time on one of the routes on the road that we did weekly, there would be piles of whippets in the bike lane. We had to ask a cop what they were for, we couldn't comprehend whipping that much cream on the way somewhere. They are now less frequent, which is good.

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    1. I bet cactus and plastic bags are a bad mix! When I lived in Morocco I saw lots of plastic debris caught in the spiny plants there. A nightmare.

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  15. Ah, have to laugh at the classic comedy dilemma, do you give up your bag of trash or keep it, with perhaps other unforseen consequences! Glad your plants survived okay. Mine did too.

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    1. I guess I could have carried it around the corner to the next bin. Probably should have done that, actually!

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  16. Good Lord, how old do I feel? I had to google whippets...thought that was a breed of dog...

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    1. Ha! Believe me, I feel the same way. I have never DONE a whip-it. I don't know where I first heard of them. I must have read about them somewhere. I never saw the debris in real life until I moved to London.

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  17. Once again the school librarian has educated me and apparently others. Mercy me. Someone should beat those teenagers with a stick!

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    1. It's true! Not kill them, maybe, but beat them just a little.

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  18. Holy cow. I never heard of this. They should be easy to find. That much gas they should be giggling still.

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    1. I know! There were more than 200 cream chargers lying in the street! Maybe it was the debris from a house party and someone dumped it there.

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  19. It's a good thing you provided a link. I didn't know about whipped cream. I love Magnolia. And so it goes. And so it goes.

    Love,
    Janie

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    1. I'm glad you like "Magnolia" too! It's one of those movies that people either really strongly like or dislike, it seems.

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