Yeah, that is the signature Constant Comment tea blend. It was flavored long before the flavored tea craze. But no fun if you’re expected unflavored. Nowadays you’d think they’d make it more evident on the packaging.
I’m kind of surprised. I mistakenly thought everyone knew that it’s “perfumed crap”.
Growing up, we called it Constant Vomit, and it was the tea for people who didn’t like tea. Kind of like high school newbies ordering Southern Comfort and Coke.
it didn’t. I have a bunch of dead ladybugs. and now the yellowjackets are here for the honeydew. The aphids win, no peppers this year.
My Assam decaf that I ordered online was late in getting here, so to tide me over, I got some at the supermarket. I had no idea that this brand was flavored. Bleh!
I buy Varney’s bulk Assam decaf tea online. It’s not quite as good as the high octane stuff, but it’s pretty darned good. Nothing beats Vahdam regular Assam tea from Bangladesh, though.
Back to griping. My backyard herbs are showing sun scalding, even though it hasn’t been horrifically hot here. They don’t get full sun all day long due to backyard fences and nearby trees. Why can’t they cope with some sun? The weather here is not all that different from the Emerald Triangle.
Heh. Our herb garden is in pots on our porch. They’re doing well, however wrens are nesting in the lemongrass, so my gf had to buy lemongrass for a recipe last weekend.
Anti-rant: last month or maybe the month before, I mini-ranted about the neighbor down the street who planted flowers over half his yard - I assume so he didn’t have to mow - but the flower beds were overgrown with weeds, and blocked the view of oncoming traffic at the corner to boot. A couple of days ago he mowed it all down to the ground. So yay!
I have a hunch that it wasn’t voluntary. I’m guessing someone from the city came by and told him he needed to clean it up, or pay a fine.
Well, it looks like for the first time in my life I won’t be spending Christmas with my family. My niece is immuno-compromised, so having the usual family get-together is pretty much a non-starter. On top of that, even if I wanted to fly to Chicago from North Carolina I’d have to spend two weeks in quarantine, which pretty much complicates an extended weekend trip.
If it’s not too late for the peppers: I’d knock as many off the plants as possible with a spray of water from the hose, then spray with insecticidal soap every day or two until the last egg has hatched. Eventually they’ll go down.
A pyrethrin/resmethrin dust is another alternative.
I want to rant just a little about school. We were planning on sending our daughter to in-person school. I know that it was risky but we couldn’t do virtual learning because they required the kids to be in meetings at certain times and both my husband and I work. We do not have the option to not work. Now the school is changing it’s plan to delay in-person school for 6 weeks. That means we have to find someone to do school with our daughter during the day and we have less than a month to do it. I should have planned for this to happen. It’s ultimately my fault for not being prepared. But I am so stressed out about it all. Where am I going to find a childcare provider that will do school with her without being absurdly expensive? I don’t think I am going to. I also have to buy a chromebook. And quickly because they are flying off the shelves right now.
Work update: no new positive cases. Even the guy who was in direct contact with the infected person and refuses to wear a mask has tested negative. Management has announced that the corporate mask policy really will be enforced now; everyone has to wear a mask or face shield in common areas. We’ll see if that happens…no official statements have been sent out yet.
I made the mistake of sharing all of this with Mom today; she freaked the hell out and called her friend, who has now freaked the hell out too. Great start to the weekend. 
That would have been preferable to the dramatic wailing.
Need to vent. I was out with some friends/acqaintces today, and of course things got covid-y and political. These are all red as can be rebubbies. Evidently, a new talking point is that no presidential candidate has ever released their tax returns. I had to leave, fuck the fucking spin factory.
You might check on Nextdoor.com. I’ve been seeing posts from people who are offering to take care of 2 - 4 kids in their homes, monitoring and assisting with their schoolwork.
I’ve tried all that. I’ve sprayed them with insecticidal soaps, insecticidal soaps with spinosan, blasted them with water, and the fucking aphids just keep coming back. I’m not getting any peppers this year. I yanked the plants and threw them away. I was tempted to fire up the grill and incinerate the bastards.
I don’t think I should even bother anymore. Just a complete waste of effort.
I hate to say it, but the insecticidal soap is probably why the ladybugs died.
First of all, please stop blaming yourself. None of us can be prepared during an event this like. And those who look like they are are pretending while they are silently screaming inside. So, pat yourself on the back for caring so much about your child having as good an educational as you can reasonably make happen.
Are you sure they can require you to provide the Chromebook? IME, which was having a spouse on the school board for 20 years, parenting 3 kids through 13 years of school apiece and then one of those children going on to be computer support staff in that same school system, not once was any family required, expected or even allowed to provide the device. Double check on that and don’t take “no, you must provide it” from the first school official you ask, work your way up the food chain to your local school board representative if necessary. Legally, I just don’t think they can require that of you.
I have read that Chromebooks (at least the lower priced ones)are back-ordered and essentially unobtainable now because so many districts across the nation had to sweep the stocks clean when schools went on-line this spring and now the supply chain disruption effects are exacerbating that.
Good luck, we are all rooting for you.
sadly I’m sure you’re right. I thought I’d had enough time since last spray, plus there’d been two heavy rains and a good rinsing from the garden hose in the interim, but apparently it wasn’t enough. Oh well.
If its any consolation at all, I’ve given up on milkweed again this year. I have NO idea where the aphids come from, none of my other plants have ever had them, only the milkweed.
Because I’m planting for the Monarchs, I can’t use insecticides of any sort which doesn’t help much. I’ve yanked all the plants and bagged them. Fire ban here, that’s the best I can do. One day next week, I am going to turn the water heater to its highest setting for a few hours and then drain the scalding water on that bed and hope that I’ve killed any remaining bugs or eggs.
Wish me luck!