Dolly Parton recreated her 1978 Playboy magazine cover for her husband’s birthday. “You’re probably wondering why I’m dressed like this. Well, it’s for my husband’s birthday,” Parton says, describing her bunny outfit. “Remember some time back I said I was gonna pose on Playboy magazine when I’m 75? Well, I’m 75 and they don’t have a magazine anymore, but my husband always loved the original cover of Playboy.” She continued: “I was trying to think of something to do to make him happy. He still thinks I’m a hot chick after 57 years and I’m not gonna try to talk him out of that.” Love it! She IS a hot chick!
A moon garden. You simply plant night-blooming, sweet-scented, light-colored, light-reflecting plants, because at night you tend to see a garden in a different way. First off, it is quieter and cooler in the evening, so you can hear leaves rustling in the breeze… magical and calming. Red, orange, and purple colors fade at night, so use light-colored flowers that glow in the moonlight. White, yellow, pink and lavender, but mostly white. The moon flower vine has white 6-inch flowers that open as evening comes, with a lemony fragrance. There is a white wisteria. I once had this planted on the posts of a pergola. The plants were gifts from friends, and it was so beautiful at night. Such a firm reminder of deep friendship. How about night-blooming jasmine on a trellis. I love the smell of jasmine. Try lamb’s ear, dusty miller, hosta’s, thyme, yarrow for beds… all plants that don’t have big flowers, just nice light colors. Use plenty of glass objects, garden ornaments, bird baths, or fountains, tiny string lights…even candles, but no floodlights, just soft light to reflect in your moon garden.
As I write this, the National Hurricane Center shows the Atlantic looking very calm, and the central Pacific has now downgraded Hurricane Felicia to a depression and tropical storm Guillermo now listed as a post-tropical cyclone or remnants. Could have been us.
The Delta variant is surging, now making up 83% of new cases. That is up from 50% just 21 days ago. People getting vaccinations has slowed, but almost every covid death now was an unvaccinated person. If you are not vaccinated, please reconsider. Houston Methodist had a little over 100 COVID-19 patients in their system last week. That number rose to 185 on Monday, with a majority of those infected, being unvaccinated. Among those infections, about 85% have been diagnosed with the delta variant, and the hospital has reported its first case of the lambda variant. That is the 11th letter of the Greek alphabet, just in case you are counting variants, which you should be. ☹
J.K. Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter series, pitched The Sorcerer’s Stone to thirteen different publishers. Twelve publishers in a row rejected it before Bloomsbury decided to give the new author a chance. J.K. Rowling is now worth hundreds of millions of dollars, and Harry Potter is a household name. The franchise is worth $25 billion in total. Bloomsbury did have a disappointing request for Rowling, to which she agreed. She agreed to use the name J.K. instead of her first name, Joanne, because publishers were worried that young boys would not want to read a book by a female author.
It is confirmed that Jerry O’Connell will be replacing Sharon Osbourne on The Talk. He will be the first male co-host in the series’ history. I have never seen the show. A Florida man who stole candles from a Bath and Body Works was able to get away because he sprayed everyone in his way with bear mace, injuring at least 30 people, some hospitalized. The Dow plunged more than 800 points recently because of fear that the Delta variant may hinder our recovery. While new cases are mostly spreading among populations with low vaccination rates, even states with a greater percentage of residents vaccinated are now implementing new restrictions as the very contagious Delta has become the dominant strain. OK. Get your vaccine. Hawaii reported 166 new COVID cases, the highest single-day increase since January.
Following the wild success of their chicken sandwich, Popeyes is now introducing chicken nuggets. They are preparing ahead of time in order to avoid the demand, hysteria, stabbings, frenzy, and violence associated with the introduction of their now famous brioche bun sandwich. July 27th. See you there.
My Netflix viewing history is just a list of movies I have fallen asleep to. Seriously.
A 23-year-old Florida woman was arrested after refusing to mask on a Delta Airlines flight. Not only did she argue with flight attendants about the mask, but she spit on the other passengers. Authorities arrived, handcuffed her, but she continued her unhappy party all the way to the jail. Oh, my. All this hate in the world lately.
The Texanist article in Texas Monthly this month, discussed whether you should or should not pop fire ant pustules. Suddenly, my interest was piqued, and I felt I should read and find out. I think I put my foot too close to an ant bed at least once a week, and of course, you don’t know until it’s too late. You start the fire ant dance, fling off your shoes, hope the water hose is close, and boogie. It is even worse right now with all the rains. The red imported fire ant is not an ant species native to Texas. It came from South America by ship in the 1930’s, first arriving in Mobile, Alabama. It took around 20 years for them to bite their way to Texas, arriving here in the 50’s. So, they bite/sting you, and several days later the zit forms. To POP or not to POP? If you do, it said you risk a secondary infection, so no, you are not supposed to pick or pop. But I do. Sometimes I remember to dab with alcohol afterwards, but most of the time I do not. I just get the gunk out. There is a couple at the Peach Tree Farmer’s Market in Angleton, that carry a jar of cream that is supposed to be magic for ant bites. We should look into that.
Just 22 years ago, I helped get The Source Weekly to the printer, then got up early the next morning to humor Dr. Gilliland who needed to leave for a scheduled ski trip, so I reluctantly allowed him to induce my labor. I told him that I did not approve since it would change her horoscope, which would obviously affect her poorly for her entire life, but he was un-fazed, and Anne-Elisabeth Inez Baker arrived at 12:32pm (yes, I had to look at the birth certificate). My life with my beautiful daughter began. Friends were so generous, pink clothing arriving by the armloads. So much pink! To counteract pink, when I could, I dressed her in baby blue. I just knew I could change her attitude, should she have one, about pink being the only color a girl could love. I could not change her. Her baby nursery was blue and yellow, but about age 5, she picked out pale pink paint for her very pink bedroom, to match all of her pink belongings. Her brother had been gifted with a fabulous kitchen set, so I bought my girl a fabulous work bench. There would be no gender-based discrimination in our home. She now happens to be in Industrial Design wearing Dickies coveralls to school each day. Watching her grow up, it was incredible to me that a child could be so perfect. Even the worst days were great. She always listened to advise and acted on it. She trusted me to know I was there to protect, and guide her sassy, opinionated, confident self through braces, bad haircuts, proms, friendships, boys, learning to drive, and literally, a million other things. She knew I was hiding tomatoes and mushrooms in most everything I cooked for her, so she whined but ate it anyway. She also knows now that there is not a single living soul on this Earth that loves her as much as I do. I am so excited to see what the next few years bring to you AE… graduation, grad school, boyfriends, or maybe children. By the way, I know for a fact, that you will rule the Earth one day, along with your huge, beautiful smile. I see our roles reversing somewhat now. You are starting to guide me, requiring me to listen more than I talk. Sometimes it is hard for me, but please know I try. It is so hard being a parent – wondering how much help is still necessary on any given day… will today be embraced more or less than yesterday. Will tomorrow be the last day you really need me? Most of all, thank you for being my girl. Happy 22nd Birthday. Damn, it happened so fast, but it’s been more fun than anyone should be allowed to have! I LOVE you! MOM
