Plants, PO Update, and Law

Holy cats I am tired.  Sunday we planted a rhododendron to replace the Japanese Maple we took out.  Its location was dictated by the proximity of the stump and a giant root in the ground, and a sprinkler line.  It was a total PITA, because of limited space.  I would have liked to dig the hole bigger, but we were limited.  Hopefully the rhody will live long and prosper there.  The rhody in the back has had the maple growing into him for years, so he'll probably enjoy the increased light and air.

The elderberries we planted last year did not do well this past winter.  About half of the plants were frozen dead, and they looked sad.  They have been replaced with Red Twig Elegantissima dogwoods.  According to their hang tags, they're hardy to -40F, so a winter like last year should be less damaging.  We took out existing shrubs, putting new ones in shouldn't be too awful, right?  HAH HAH DOUBLE HAH HAH HAH.  While enlarging the hole for dogwood #1, the first thing I did was to pull an emitter out of the sprinkler supply line.  Who knew there was another supply line buried that deep?  Now we know.  Jim got it plugged, and we avoided further trauma to the irrigation system. 

Hole number two revealed that there is much wood remaining from a giant pine tree that was cut down when they built this house.  Today I learned how to effectively swing a pick axe.  Jim and I spent awhile chopping at the roots with a shovel and pick axing to clear enough space to get the dogwood in.  Hopefully his roots will be able to wend their way around the buried remains of the pine tree to find sustenance.  He'll grow up to be seven feet tall.  As he over powers the arborvitae that's in front of him, we'll cut that down.  The deer just did a number on them this winter.

Look!  We have a flower on the tomato.  Maybe there will be a tomato some day.

Here is the tax return saga update.  The original saga is in the post below.

May 1 the envelope returned to Spokane from Cincinnati for the second time.  May 7 the envelope departed the Spokane USPS Regional Origin Facility.  May 8 the envelope arrived at the Spokane USPS facility.  It's still there.  The lady at the post office assured me that it will eventually be delivered to the IRS.  Since it has already made two round trips between here and the Cincinnati PO, I'm not clear on what will be different this time.  She blamed it on "the machine."

Today was a big day in legal land.  The orange dumpster fire was not found guilty of rape.  Apparently E. Jean Carroll had told the jury she could not tell if she'd been penetrated, or not.  He is guilty of sexual abuse and she was injured.  $2M damages for that.  He did defame her, he lied, and he made the statement with malice and she was injured.  $1M damages for that.  Reputational repair - damages $1.7M.  He acted maliciously - $280,000 damages.

DOJ has indicted George Santos.  Thus far, the charges have not been made public, but it's good that he's under indictment.  He needs to be out of congress.

Other than this, I have nothing intelligent to offer.  Too tired.

Ok, one more thing.  The New York Post is owned by Rupert Murdoch.  He hasn't bailed on the orange dumpster fire, but does enjoy taking shots at him.