hooray for parties

I didn't think I'd have anything silly for today but thank goodness for the happy hour driveway and a birthday party. Shortly after we first arrived the dog next door, Leo, demanded Samuel's attention. This is much more socially acceptable with dogs. After some play we returned to the party.

Tonight when I checked the traps I found a FROG!! I have a frog! Not in the traps, but in the garden. I hope it finds the toad house and lives here happily ever after. 

I also found another gigantic slug. Did you know they can expand and contract? It was huge when I picked it up and it was incredible by the time we made it across the road.

Ok, I drive the mice three miles away so they don't come back. Is across the road enough for slugs or do they just come back?

I wrote that the Ukrainians did what no one thought could be done and integrated the AGM-88 HARM onto a MiG-29 fighter jet. Huh? Ok, the HARM missile, which is at least a good name, is designed to destroy Soviet air defense radars. The MiG is a Ukrainian fighter jet. The Ukrainian Air Force just released a video on Twitter that showed that they managed to fit these missiles into the jets. "Ivan," a Ukrainian Air Force pilot, made the video in honor of a fellow pilot who died in battle. Clever viewers realized the missiles being launched were the American HARMS. 

I liked the headline of a recent article from Popular Mechanics:  Russia Claims It 'Hacked' HIMARS Rocket Launchers. That's Probably a Big, Fat Lie"

Speaking of HIMARs, the US has sent 16. Of those, Russia says they've destroyed 44. Mocking Russia, the Ukraine Defense Ministry posted a goofy video of HIMARs on America's Got Talent. 

Ukraine says it destroyed 25 Russian tanks and 37 armored vehicles yesterday. In May the UK Ministry of Defence said Russia was losing so many tanks they were using 50-year-old T-62 tanks.
 
Hundreds of civilians and soldiers lined up today in Mykolaiv, Ukraine, in response to calls for blood donations. "We need to give more blood to save the soldiers who are fighting for us."

Ukrainian forces destroyed a Russian military base in Melitopol last night.

Russia asked for 56 visas from the US so Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his delegation can travel to New York for the annual gathering of world leaders at the United Nations this month (acronym UNGA), but so far has received none. Ah bureaucracy. 

One of Ukraine's advantages is its guerillas behind the Russian lines. Every Ukrainian with a cellphone could be providing intel. Since 2014 when the Russians invaded,  US Special Operations forces have been teaching the Ukrainians how to be guerillas.