Day: May 21, 2018

Before and after. I wasn’t kidding about that rosebush needing some serious chopping back.

(There are a couple of patio planters under that rose brush pile, BTW. Probably need to get some help moving that later, because it sure can’t stay there.)

It ain’t pretty now, but I can clean it up later. And from past experience, it should fill back in pretty quickly. At least it shouldn’t be annoying those neighbors anymore.

As shown in the last shot, a couple of canes were firmly enough wedged up between the decking boards that I couldn’t pull them down after pruning them off. Will need to get some help with that later too. If nothing else, Mr. C can get up on a ladder and cut it off at the top. I’m not about to try that on my own, even if I did have the energy right now. (Some modicum of sense, at any rate 🙄)

That was some overdoing today, but at least the worst of the job is done. And I managed to get a little sun in the process.

Thinking it’s time for Takeout Night, even if napping for approximately a year isn’t a great option.

bandana-roja:

If you’re a white person and you know that people of color face oppression for having black and brown skin, it is not enough for you to just know that racism exists, it’s not enough to be aware that institutional racism puts minorities in danger, and it’s not enough to admit white guilt with the selfish intention of getting sympathy and praise from people of color in proving that you’re now “woke” or to make a big deal that you’re now an “ally.”

Your goal should be to take direct steps to dismantle that system. To challenge it wherever you see it. To be on the frontlines and help with its destruction.

Very relevant

anxiety-unlimited:

the only countries that have worse healthcare than the US are countries that cant afford it. thats the bottom line. diabetics arent dying because theres an insulin shortage in this country. theyre dying because the government refuses to carry that economic burden to save lives in spite of being fully able to do so. 

that is the difference between us and countries with socialized healthcare. 
able. just unwilling. 

A Message to All White People on Colonialism

misanthropymademe:

someoneintheshadow456:

denied-par-vollen:

akria23:

denied-par-vollen:

WE ARE NOT TO BLAME

It is NOT our fault


We have NOTHING to do with the actions of our ancestors


Do not let ANYONE tell you otherwise

This stuff should stay funny.

The antics y’all pull should at least get a bitter laugh. But I see stuff like this and I just stare at it. How can the nature of a human be so disgusting, so avoiding, so intentional.

To be this way…

I guess it’s yalls right.

I see literally no reason me or anyone else alive today should at all be held responsible for crimes committed centuries ago. It was nothing to do with us. Would you send a murderer’s grandchildren to jail for their crime? No. So leave us alone and stop punishing innocent people

Okay I guess I can go up to a Muslim or Chinese person and tell them that they oppress me just for existing because their ancestors oppressed my ancestors.

Or a Malaysian, Thai, or Singaporean person can come up to me and tell me the same thing. 

Or does it only work that way with White people? 

People who lay the blame with random individuals for structural issues are your enemy, and their own enemy. Anyone who insists on your shaming and your atonement is sacrificing your potential to change the world on the altar of their own ego. Everyone born in the West already profits from unequal relations with the Global South regardless of ancestry. Changing that sort of stuff is beyond any individual, but you can chip away at it, and that sure as fuck ain’t happening if you’re sitting on your thumbs at a Healing From Toxic Privilege wokeshop. 

Barbara Mann said it better than I could, once again.

“White guilt” is no substitute for truth telling. First, sloshing around in guilt does not expiate the evil done. Worse, having once sloshed, sloshers just grow angry or compassion-fatigued should the topic recur, even though the damage remains unaddressed. Second, “white guilt” is modeled on Christian forgiveness, which paralyzes its prey before consuming it. Wallowing helps no one…

The upshot?

All that you are responsible for is what you do, once you walk out the door, knowing that these things did happen.

Or are continuing to happen now, as the case may be. Wallowing helps no one.

Speaking of neglected roses, this one is always the first to start blooming and it’s always cheerful with the big flush early in the season.

Some kind of basic hybrid tea that was here when Mr. C bought the place, and it got no care until I moved in a couple of years later. Now it’s sharing a bed with an unexpectedly huge rosemary bush that also needs some serious pruning for shape, but it doesn’t seem to care. I think it got fed a grand total of once last year, and there’s a bunch of dead wood back in there again that nobody has managed to prune out for a few years now. Later in the season, it’s a nearly bald mess with blackspot no matter how I’ve treated that in past.

But, it just keeps plugging along, in a relatable way 🙄

I was glad those new pruning shears did show up today. That giant neglected ‘Graham Thomas’ rose is wanting to grow up into the neighbors’ steps and decking again 😧 It’s really shot up over just the past couple weeks.

I was going to try and take care of it over the weekend, but the smaller secateurs I could find really were not up to the job.

Not the only overgrown rose pruning job that didn’t get done over the winter/early spring, but the most pressing with it impinging on upstairs. At least that bush barely has stickers to snag anyone, with multiple pieces poking up though the steps 😨 Those people don’t seem to like us much already, and besides just not wanting to cause problems for the neighbors? They’ve already shown willingness to call the council without even mentioning an issue to us first.

I really don’t like waiting this late to do serious hacking back. Not particularly good for the plants. It’s not just lack of spoons, though that’s definitely the biggest factor this year. It’s also way too easy to keep putting off the pruning, waiting and hoping the roses will go properly dormant over the winter. Spoiler: they just don’t in this climate. I should know this after almost 15 years, but I still keep hoping. 🙄 And before you know it, there’s tons of fresh growth to lop off too.