Spring Pretties In My Garden and Fluffy and Bounce and a Lady from Ukraine

 

I am showing a photo of Fluffy first, as she doesn't get as much mention on my blog and that is so unfair. I call this picture "Fluffy in a Box", as the box on the chair is very coveted by her and by Bounce. See photo below, titled "Bounce in a Box", of course.

 Some ranunculus and freesias I planted recently, these are photos from the packets. I planted the bulbs, or rhizomes or corms, I  can't recall which name is correct for which plant.

Above is Mr. Gnome, a Christmas gift. He is holding a solar light next to the yellow petunias I planted. Am I in a planting frenzy? Yes, a happy frenzy, and I am planting many seeds too, zinnias, knee high sunflowers, sweet peas, Swiss chard and Chinese edible pod peas.

One more photo and that's it, of cute pansies or violas I bought.

A Woman and Her Children from Ukraine Arrive Here

I am writing this post in advance, on Sunday March 27. I must tell you, at Bible Fellowship today a member told us that money we raised is helping a mom and her children from Ukraine arrive in our town tomorrow. We are looking forward to meeting her. She had to leave her husband in Ukraine because no men age 18 to 60 are allowed to leave. Her husband in Ukraine has 6 displaced people staying in their home with him and they are experiencing food shortages. When this was shared, people were quiet as it made all of us count our blessings. Update: The lady visited our small group (25 people) at church last Sunday, and I was not there. I am sorry to have missed meeting her. People found her a house to live in and all sounds as well as can be expected.

Biden and Ukraine, TV shows Lie to Me and Chef's Table

Three things I have noticed. 

Putin was emboldened to invade Crimea when Obama was President.

Putin did not dare to invade Ukraine when Trump was President.

Putin is invading Ukraine when Biden is President.

Bill Maher, who does not like Trump, posed this question, "If as some on the left claim, Putin and Trump are so buddy buddy, why did Putin not invade Ukraine when Trump was President?" 

Our leadership in the USA by Obama and by Biden did not deter Putin. Food for thought. 

As a way to lighten the mood in these dangerous days, here are two TV shows I found recently and enjoy.

 

Lie to Me, starring Tim Roth as a facial expression and body language expert who founds a company that helps police and government agencies solve crimes, prevent terrorism, free innocent prisoners, etc. Tim Roth is brilliant in this show. I love the way he carefully studies people face to face up close to decide if they are lying. 2009 to 2011 and good news that there are 48 episodes. On Netflix.

 

Chef's Table, a documentary about chefs around the world. The two episodes I watched thus far are fascinating. Musa Dagdeviren is a Turkish chef in Istanbul who works to keep regional cuisines from becoming extinct. Wonderful food, a chef with bold ideas to save old type cuisines, and lots of footage of Istanbul and small towns. He was sad to hear people in Turkey insult ethnic cuisines (I won't eat at that restaurant, they serve Kurdish, Sunni, etc. foods) and that sparked his zeal to save those old recipes and showcase them in his restaurant. I attended college in Istanbul for a year my junior year abroad and love Turkish food so I watched this episode first.

Bo Songvisava is a Thai chef who is on a mission to save old style authentic Thai food recipes in her Bangkok restaurant. She is also on a mission to support organic suppliers and her restaurant is all organic, which was difficult to do because Thailand has mainly industrial farming according to her. Lots of beautiful scenes of small farms, countryside and Thai food. I am watching this series on Hulu. Each of these chefs is talented and charismatic and doing work I admire greatly. There are many episodes covering many countries and interesting chefs. The photo above is of Bo in her Bangkok restaurant.