Hooray for gardening

I was industrious again! This included shoving more steel wool in more holes. At this point, the option of moving and burning the house down is out because half of the house is now metal. 

And I balanced it out with gardening again, but there is plenty to do tomorrow in little work breaks. I still have Irish Moss to plant and Mitchell Repens. Then I have a new bag of mulch to distribute over ground that is currently bare because mulch shifted around over the winter. 

The Japanese Painted Ferns are growing. The hostas are poking out. Ever more of the hyacinths are revealing themselves. 

This morning I went looking for a Lions Mane omelette recipe. I didn't find it, but portobello mushrooms, onions, and pesto are very interesting. 

The news this morning was terrible. Better news is needed to keep us sane. 

Civilians in Kharkiv baked poisoned cakes for Russian troops. Two died, 28 went to intensive care. The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense also says that about 500 soldiers are in the hospital suffering from heavy alcohol poisoning of unknown origin.  

Russian troops are relearning what they learned in Afghanistan - armored vehicles designed to be light enough to carry on planes do not provide a lot of protection. 

A Polish doctor operated on a mother and her sons, saving her sight and providing ocular treatment to the boys. Folks are working to help her find a place to live in Poland. The doctor is providing virtual consultations for Ukrainians who can't be evacuated. 

Western and Ukrainian officials say seven Russian generals have been killed. The US lost nine generals in 20 years of the Vietnam war. Why are so many dying? Because the Russian military can't get its act together and the generals are having to go to harm's way, and their security is terrible. Plus, they don't have enough encrypted phones, so they are using unencrypted phones. 

Daisybrook International Pet Transport was inundated with 300 bags of dog food and other donations from around the UK. Owner Matthew Hunt drove it to Poland in their specialized dog van and plans to make the trip once a week.


Ukraine has joined the European power grid. 


The famous José Andrés, founder of World Central Kitchen, set up an emergency relief kitchen in the town of Przemyśl—just several miles from the border with Ukraine that is receiving tens of thousands of refugees every day. In twelve massive paella pans and twelve large ovens, they are cooking hundreds of thousands of meals. They are transporting these meals to additional cities like Odessa. 


Polish veterinarian Jakub Kotowicz launched a rescue trip into the war zone last week and has since rescued around 200 cats and 60 dogs from L’viv, in three convoys. He's caring for them in his clinic. The rescued animals include a pygmy goat and a large Sphinx cat. 


J.K. Rowling has pledged to match every pound sterling up to £1 million ($1.3 million) in donations to Lumos, a charity that’s focused on helping orphans in the war zones.



Airbnb and users raised more than $40 Million and is offering 150,000 temporary homes for Ukrainians


Remember that Greece pledged to rebuild the the maternity hospital in Mariupol? Italy has promised to rebuild the theater in Mariupol.