Fiber Fun

Last month, when I went to the fiber festival in Oxford, I forgot to bring Suzette.  She has not let me live that down, so I made doubly sure to bring her with me today. 

And where were we going this chilly February morning?  To Vicksburg, to Fiber Fun In The 'Sip!  

We had a bit of a rough start, though.  To begin with, when I was programming the route into my GPS, it wouldn't let me get onto the Natchez Trace at Ridgeland.  Well, at least I couldn't figure out how to get it to do that.  What I had to do was to end the route when I got to Ridgeland, then start a new route, choosing the Trace from Ridgeland to Clinton.  

That way, I could avoid Jackson.  I'll avoid Jackson any way I can.

So, finally I made it to Vicksburg -- and truth be told, I knew how to get there.  I still like using my GPS so I'll know how much longer the trip is going to be.  But anyway, I finally made it there and the first thing I noticed is that she did not have enough tables and chairs set up in the Sit 'n Stitch area.

I saw one empty table, but there were a couple of coats draped over some of the chairs, so I walked around the vendor area a bit.  When I got back to the table, there was still no one there, so I sat down anyway.  Without thinking, I set my project bag in the chair next to me, and the entire chair collapsed, dumping my bag and spilling all of the water from my cup -- which for some reason I'd put into my bag.  

Everything in my bag was soaked, along with the chair and a good bit of the floor.  I got some paper towels from the bathroom and cleaned it up as best I could, then pulled out my hat to begin knitting while waiting to see if any of the gang would show up. 

That's when I discovered that my brand spanking new needle had snapped in half. 

It was at this point, I wanted to throw in the towel and just go home, but I didn't.   The only thing I can figure is that when the bag fell, my cup landed on the needle and broke it.   Luckily, I had packed two projects, so I just pulled the other one out.  

After a few moments, I got up and took another turn about the room, and when I got back, someone else was sitting in the chair I'd recently vacated.  I sat down in the chair next to her and said, "Do you mind if I crash your party?"  She said no, we introduced ourselves-- her name is Elaine --, and were soon joined by her friend Jo and I had some people to talk to until Amy got there.  

We knew Christi wasn't coming, because for some strange reason, she'd rather spend the day at her grandkids' birthday party than with us.  What's up with that?  I mean, really!  

I wasn't sure if Leann was planning on coming, though.  When I saw her in Oxford, she'd said she wanted to, but I guess she wasn't able to make it.  I sure hope she didn't drive all the way down from Memphis only to arrive after we'd left!  

So, after visiting a moment, Amy and I got up and visited the vendor booths, and she bought a couple of things, but I didn't buy anything.  I think it's because I'd just bought a bunch of yarn in Oxford, plus  putting all that yarn into the boxes yesterday made me realize how much I already had.  I just couldn't bring myself to spend any more money.   In the end, I only came home with the shopping bag they hand out at the door, 

and two mini sheep one booth was giving away for free. 

They had a 3-D printer going, and it was pretty nifty to watch.  When we got back to the table, Elaine and Jo were gone, and two more people were sitting at the table, so we joined them.  All too soon, Amy said she had to leave and run some errands, and I left soon after she did.  

Just about the time we left, Other Amy and Christi's friends Jane and Kate -- whom I'd met in Oxford -- arrived, so we said hi and bye and just like that, it was over for another year.   To be honest, I haven't missed a single one since they started doing FFITS back in 2018, but this might be my last time going.  

Every year, there are fewer and fewer vendors, and the classes...well, it seems like there are fewer of them as well.  And I'm not sure going in February will work out for me.  I'd much rather have it in September.  I don't know...I mean, it's not like I have a lot of festivals to compare it with, since Vicksburg and Oxford are the only ones I've ever been to.  I know she works hard at getting it all organized, but it just feels like something is missing. 

In other news, Houston, we have a problem.  Yes, Brennan did just give me a huge pack of stationery for Christmas, but when this came back in stock, I couldn't pass it up. 

I even bought a matching wax stamp. 

So, what's the problem?  What am I going to do with all that stationery?  All the pen pals I used to have have quit writing, except one from Australia.  I need more pen pals!  

And finally, I moved my fire pit back out of the shed, and put my Adirondack chair and table out there by it.  

 Maybe tomorrow, I'll light me a fire, sit out there and write a letter to my Australian pen pal.  

A Little Part Of Me

I'd taken a day off today just to make sure I'd have tomorrow off so I can go to Fiber Fun In The 'Sip.  So, yesterday, as I was getting some scrap tickets signed, I asked Uncle Supervisor,  "Are we going to be working tomorrow?"  

He said, "Tomorrow?  Tomorrow is Friday!"  

I laughed and said, "I meant Saturday."  

See, I'm so tired, I don't even know what day it is.  

He said no, so I told him, "You know, I have a vacation day in for tomorrow (meaning today as I write this), but I only need Saturday off, so there is a chance I might cancel it."  

He replied, "If you want to cancel, come on!"  

"Yeah," I said, "But there is a little part of me that wants to stay up in the bed!"

I debated all day long about whether to cancel my vacation day or not.  If I take the day, will I regret it later on and wish I had just one more?  On the other hand, I'm tired and could use a day of doing nothing.  And I do still have three unscheduled days, plus my earned time off....

At the end of the day, I'd made up my mind and stopped by Uncle Supervisor's desk and told him, "I decided not to cancel, so I won't be here tomorrow."   He seemed disappointed, but he'll get over it. 

As per my usual, I told myself I was going to be so productive, and made up a long list of things I wanted to get accomplished.  As per my usual, I got none of them done.   Except laundry.  I did laundry.  

That's pretty much it. 

In knitting news, as most of you know, I'd cast on a new hat with some of the yarn I bought in Oxford last month.  You may also remember I'd mentioned that the yarn was so thin it felt more like lace weight than fingering weight, even though I double checked the ball band and sure enough, it said fingering.  

Knowing my hands would need a break from it, last night I got out another hank from the closet and caked it up.  This one is from Leann's shop Forbidden Fiber Co, and the colorway is Toasted Marshmallow, which was limited edition so it's no longer available.  

Alas, when I caked it up, I ended up with two balls. 

I'm thinking this one might have been my fault, because I don't see any other sign of moths.  I'd cut the ties shortly after I bought it so I could add a square to my blanket, and I'm thinking I might have accidentally cut the yarn when I did that.  Oh, well, the bigger ball should be enough to get a complete hat out of.  If not, I'm pretty good at joining yarn by now. 

For what it's worth, here is a progress photo of both hats. 

Then, just in case it was moths, I got some plastic boxes I had just laying around -- for an organizing project I never got around to doing -- and put as much of my sock and lace weight yarn into them as I could fit.  Those on the shelves to the left of this photo. 

That closet needs a lot more organizing, I'll admit, but it's a start.  Truth is, I need to get rid of a lot of that yarn. So much of it was given to me, and a lot of it was Suzie's, but I doubt I'll ever use it, and I'm sure Sue would rather it go to a good home than just sit collecting dust in my closet. 

Even those big tubs of fiber on the top shelves.  Suzie sent me a lot of it when I was dabbling in spinning, and at this point, I don't think I'll ever get around to using it.  It needs to go to someone who will love it -- and that's not to say I don't love the fiber.  If I had time to breathe much less to spin my own fiber, maybe I'd spin it up, but I haven't even touched my wheel in over a decade, and the spindles only get used sporadically.  

So, if any of my friends who spin want some fiber, just let me know and I'll send you some.  

And finally, I don't know what's going on out at work.  Usually this time of year, we're rolling, but we haven't worked a single Saturday -- and I mean the plant as a whole, some of the component areas have worked --and they've been sending us home early lately.  

Yesterday, they came around and sent us home at noon.  I went ahead and did my shopping so I wouldn't have to get out today, but the only notable thing I found was these air fresheners on clearance for half price. 

 I've put them back for next fall and winter. 

And finally, the season 5 Chosen trailer dropped yesterday.  It looks awesome!  

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go ignore the rest of my to-do list.  

Laters.

Still No Snow

My coworker came in after break and said, "It's so cold out there, my snot is freezing to my face as fast as it can run out my nose!"  Which was even more hilarious, because I thought that particular coworker didn't even have a sense of humor.  She's always been so serious about everything.  Here lately, however, she's loosening up a bit, and it's nice to see.

But anyway, she was right.  We got cold, but again, we didn't get any snow.  Just this sleety mess and freezing rain.   I tried to take a photo around 3:30 this morning, but it didn't turn out too well. 

The good news is --or the bad news, depending on your perspective-- the roads were clear, both going to work, and coming home.  Part of me was hoping I'd wake up to a text telling me the plant would be closed for the day, and I could stay home in my nice, warm bed, but no such luck.  

So out of bed I got and into the cold I went.  Where my coworker uttered the now famous line above. 

When I got home, I was able to get some better photos, both of the sleety mess

and the little icicles hanging from my roof. 

After filling the bird feeder and building a nice little fire, I sat down with a mug of hot chocolate and wanted to smack that little rodent up North. 

 

Monday Moanday

It's Monday again.  Back to work, and I didn't get anything done that I'd said I was going to get done over the weekend.  I didn't do my taxes.  I didn't fit my new bite guard.  I didn't finish my letter to my Australian pen pal.  I didn't even get my chicken salad made...although I did that when I got home this evening, so I guess it counts. 

The good news is, my side table arrived today.  

I was pleasantly surprised, because I didn't think the mail would run today -- it being President's Day and all.  But apparently, it did.  

The side table was a lot easier to put together than the chair was, and in just a few moments, I had it done and it's ready to go out into the back yard. 

Another thing I'd ordered also arrived.  I got this advent calendar to put back for Cody and Brennan.  

It looked like something fun for them to do together.  Actually, it looks like something I'd want to do, so they might not get it.  But they probably will.   I'll just get me another chocolate advent calendar.  

In other news, I know I said the house plan I posted yesterday was the one, but today, I found this one.  

It's got a garden room and a garage!  I spent 20 years living in a trailer house, slopping through the rain and mud to get to my car.  Dadgum it, I want a garage!  Or at least a car port.  On the other hand, it shouldn't be too difficult to add a car port to the other plan.  Not that it matters anyway.  It's all just a pipe dream right now. 

In knitting news, I got my next project cast on, but right now there isn't enough done to even show you a picture.  So, I'll just show you the yarn.  

It's some I bought in Oxford, from Holly Dyeworks, and the colorway is Folk School Engagement.  It's supposed to be fingering weight, but it's on the smaller side of fingering.  It's almost a heavy laceweight.  Still, I love the color, and it's knitting up pretty. 

Pretty soon, the hat will be long enough to show you, but not today.  I'm tired, and I'm going to bed. 

Goodnight. 

At Last!

At long last, the hat is finally finished!  

Except for the gajillion ends I have to weave in, I mean. 

It was at this point I began to wonder why I didn't just use the two biggest balls of yarn to begin with.  But whatever.  What's done is done, and that's how it's going to stay. 

It got me to thinking, though.  This hat is a perfect metaphor for our lives sometimes.  When I bought this yarn, it was beautiful, pristine, and perfect.  Then life happened.  Moths got to it, and when I got ready to cast on, I discovered it had been cut to pieces.  

My first inclination was to just throw the whole thing away.  Well, my first inclination was to cry, then to throw the whole thing out, but I didn't.  I picked up the pieces and began putting them back together a bit at a time.  Yes, it was a lot of extra work, and a bit of a pain, and quite tedious when you get right down to it. 

In the end, the hat still turned out beautiful, even with all those joins in it.  You may think your life is in pieces, but with a lot of hard work, you can still put it back together and it will end up being a beautiful thing. 

In other news, today turned out to be a cleaning day.  What since I'd put most of my food into the deep freeze, I took advantage of the situation to give the small freezer a good cleaning.  Boy, it needed it, too.  Apparently, I have a habit of spilling things in freezers.  

Oh, well, it's all nice and clean now, and I think I'm going to have one of those pot pies for supper.

Then I took a few moments and cleaned off my desk. 

I know what you're thinking, "Becky, that's not clean!"  No, but it's a lot better than it was.  I really need to clean that whole desk off and sell it, so I can replace it with a proper writing desk.  It's an old computer desk, and since I don't even have a desktop any more, I never use it except to pile junk mail on.  I'd thought about using this as a writing desk, but the top is just a little too high to make writing comfortable.  

And finally, I think I found the one!  I really like this house.  

It's got a nice big kitchen and living room, a master bedroom that's not directly off the main living area, lots of storage, and two bathrooms.  Plus the large front and back porches.  And it's got a cute facade.  

Now, I just need me a sugar daddy so I can afford it.  They say say Elon Musk has all of our SSNs.  If he wanted to open a bank account with mine and deposit a few hundred thou into it...well, I wouldn't ask him to, but I wouldn't argue either. 

Except that I'd be the one stuck paying the taxes on it.  Speaking of, I need to get mine done to pay for the Adirondack chairs I bought...

Which I'm not looking forward to...the taxes, not the chairs.  I love the chairs.  

OK, I'm rambling now, but it's because I stayed up watching Ryan Hall's live stream until after the storms had passed, so I'm a mite tuckered.  

And I've got a new hat to cast on.  

Laters. 

It's Getting Sporty

It's starting to get a bit sporty out there, folks!

My friend Leann and her family are under a tornado warning even as I type this.  We're under a watch down here, but the worst of it is yet to come.  I'm all ready for it -- as ready as you can be for something like that.  

I spent some time this afternoon putting a lot of my food back into the deep freeze and adding several two liter bottles of water on top of it all, just in case the power goes out.   One of them, I added a good bit of salt to, so it'll stay frozen longer, I hope.  

I also put my fire pit into the shed, and picked up anything laying around the yard that could be turned into a wind driven missile.  It blows my mind how many people don't take these storm warnings seriously.  I guess growing up on the Gulf Coast with a weather geek dad has storm prep ingrained into me too deeply to ignore.  Of course, down there it was hurricane prep, but prep is prep.  

Now, I'm sitting here waiting, and watching Ryan on the TV, Reed on the computer, and Max Velocity on the Kindle.  

Except that right now I'm using my laptop to blog.  I still have the tab open and I can hear Reed in the background.  

In other news, more house plans have been popping up in my FB feed, and I found this one that I like. 

Truth is, this is all the space I'd need if I could convince Cody to come help me get rid of all of my junk.  I'd need a small shed or attic for my Christmas and Fall decorations, but other than that, I basically live in two rooms -- the living room and kitchen-- plus a bedroom and bathroom.  If I put it in Cody and Brennan's back yard, I won't even need a guess room, so that second bedroom can be turned into my craft room.  

Speaking of, I was hoping to have a finished hat to show you this evening, but I've spent most of the day knitting into the void.  I'm just hoping the void spits my knitting back out soon, so I can get this thing done.  

And finally, I meant to put this into yesterday's post, but completely forgot until I got up this morning and found the photo still on my phone.  I was going to show you that my Adirondack chairs fold up!

 Not that I'm going to use that feature a lot, but it's still pretty nifty.  Kindly ignore all of the packing material still on my couch.  I took that out this morning.  

OK, the tornado warning has been downgraded.  I need to go check on Leann now.  And knit some more -- hopefully not into the void.  

Laters.  

P.S.  I'll be checking in regularly on FB, Threads, and X so you will know I'm safe.  

Wild Hair

I got a wild hair a few days ago and spent my tax return, even though I haven't filed my taxes yet.  That's on the list for this weekend.  

So what did I do?  I ordered a set of Adirondack chairs for my back yard. They're supposed to come with a side table, only the little table didn't arrive.  I'm going to give it a couple more days to see if maybe it's on the way, then I'm going to contact the seller and see what they suggest. 

I got one of them put together, and it was a bit of a pain, but I got 'er done.   

I took it outside and sat in it for a bit, and it's pretty comfortable if I do say so myself.  I can see myself sitting out there on a Sunday morning enjoying a cup of coffee, or spending a Saturday evening in front of the fire pit.  I debated for a few moments on whether to start a fire tonight, then decided against it because it's supposed to start raining any minute now.   So I folded my new chair up and brought it back inside.  

Yes, it's an all-weather chair, but I'm not ready to leave it out in the weather just yet.  It's supposed to get pretty severe tomorrow night.  

I'll need to get one more for when Cody and Brennan come, so everyone will have a seat.  In the meantime, I still have a camp chair for the time being. You know, just in case they come for a visit before I get that third chair.  

In other news, The Book of Faces seems to think I want to look at house plans in my feed, and one of the ones that popped up is this one.  

 If I can ever convince Cody and Brennan to buy that little hobby farm and put me up a granny flat, something like this would be just right.  I've never been real fond of the bedroom opening up right off of the living room, but if I'm going to be living there alone, I guess it'll be OK.  

But nothing is set in stone.  I may find a plan I like even better later on, or that whole hobby farm may never happen.  

I'll tell you what will happen, though.  I'm determined I'm finally going to finish the hat I've been working on for what seems like forever, so I'm going to let you go and get to knitting. 

Laters. 

I Had To Clown

I had to clown a bit at work this morning.  I don't like to clown, but sometime you just gotta do what you gotta do.  

And just why was I clowning at work this morning?  Because the very first order I got today was a 40 piece, and five -- five-- of the eight required adapter tubes had been bent wrong.   I tried to make them work.  Really, I did, but after some 15 odd minutes of struggling, I'd only gotten three headers brazed up, and I threw in the towel. 

"I can't do forty of them like this," I said, and went and re-ordered all of the parts.  

The really frustrating part is that nobody seems to care.  I said something to Group Leader Shark about being frustrated because of these parts being wrong all of the time, and she shrugged and said, "Get used to it, because that's not going to change any time soon!"

Excuse me, WHAT?????

Not going to change?  Honey, you're the GROUP LEADER!  Go over there and tell them to do their first piece inspections!!!

Why they stopped them doing that is beyond my comprehension.  It seems such a basic thing to do, to check your parts to make sure they're correct, but they're no longer required to.  And they've never been required to count them. A fact that apparently, Uncle Supervisor doesn't even know. 

Monday, we had this big Come To Jesus meeting up in the front breakroom with just the brazers.  Uncle Supervisor was telling us not to get another order until we've finished the one we're on, confirmed it at the computer, and put it onto the conveyor. 

I said, "So, what if we're waiting on a partial?  Do you want us to just stand there doing nothing for five hours until we get it?"

He replied with a bit of a sneering tone, "Why would you be ordering a partial?"

"If I get an order that's short a header, I have to order one!" I told him.  

"Why would they be short parts?" Uncle Supervisor inquired. 

"Because they aren't counting!"  I said. 

Still a bit sneeringly, he said, "And how often does that happen?"

"Every single order, every single day!" I said to the echoing chorus of yesses and every days from my fellow brazers. 

"Well, when that happens, I need to know about it," he said, to which I replied, "I used to write it on that paper you make us fill out, but you told me you don't read them, so I stopped."  

He told me then that somebody does read them, and I'd like to know who, because none of the problems I've written on there has ever been addressed. 

The great irony of all this is that when I got to work Tuesday, I got an order that was half of a 216 piece, or 108 header assemblies that I needed to braze.  One particular adapter tube had 78 parts bent correctly and 30 bent backwards.  

The parts stager said there was another order of the same par that was further down the schedule, and she'd just borrow 30 from that one so I could complete my order.  However, when she brought me the parts, they were bent wrong as well. All two hundred and sixteen, PLUS the 30 from my order. 

I had the dispatcher page Uncle Supervisor and said, "Didn't you say in that meeting yesterday that you need to know if something is wrong?"

He said, "Bad wrong."  And I replied, "Like an entire 216 piece order being bent wrong?"  

Yep, he needs to know about that, but why if you're not going to do anything about it?  Why do you need to know if you're not even going to go over to tubing and tell them they need to be CHECKING their parts before they bend the entire order wrong? 

I guess they don't have time to worry about that because they're too busy getting all bent out of shape over what kind of cup I'm drinking my water out of.  Because that's so much more important than giving your employees the support they need to do their jobs. 

Oh, and that being 15 hours ahead thing didn't last long at all...

Thank goodness for the sanity that is Ryan Hall's live stream... 

Multiple tornadoes so far, but none of them are near me. 

I think I'm going to get me something to eat, then go to bed. 

Goodnight. 

Oh Me

 Long years ago, I had a coworker who always said, "Oh, me!"  anytime she was tired, or frustrated, or anything like that.  She even told me once that when she was a kid, she'd had surgery, and as she was coming out of the anesthetic, she was saying over and over again, "Oh me!  Oh me!  Oh me!" 

After hearing it from her for so many years, by the time she retired, I'd picked up the mannerism myself and say it quite often now.  

All that to say, these last few work days have definitely been Oh me! days. There's been lots of drama going on at work, which I can't really talk about other than to say it's been very stressful on all of us.  The good news is, they stopped us from coming in at 4:00 -- at least for now.   

I don't know what happened, but after being so far behind for so long with the lines right on us hounding us for headers, all of the sudden, we're like 15 hours ahead.  I'm not complaining.  Because I'm tired. 

I had to flag down a supervisor who shall remain nameless to get him to sign a scrap ticket, and as he was giving me his autograph, I said, "I don't know what's going on here.  I'm just trying to keep my head down and stay out of sight!"  

In other news, one of the supervisors, who for the purpose of this blog shall be known hereafter as Supervisor Greenjeans -- and if you're old enough to get that reference, you should have already had a colonoscopy -- told me he'd ordered his potatoes for his garden.  I said, "Aren't you worried about a frost?"  He shrugged and replied, "It's a gamble."  

Personally, I don't plant anything outside until after mid-April, but then the stuff I plant is not as cold hardy as the stuff he plants.  I'm thinking I might try some tomatoes this year, but in containers rather than in the ground.  I'd grown some once before, but they didn't do very well.  I think it was because Jesse kept peeing on them. 

By the way, Mr. Greenjeans was my favorite character on that show.   

And finally, don't waste your money on that Magic Spoon cereal.  Eh, it's OK, but not great, and certainly not worth $9 per box.  I won't be buying it again.  

I'll just have to come up with another late night snack. 

Super Sunday

I'm sure you will all be pleased to know I slept much better last night and woke up feeling much better this morning, so I got up and did all the stuff I'd intended to do yesterday when I didn't feel like it. 

I made some turkey salad for my lunches this week, which is like chicken salad, but with turkey meat.  You'd think it would be quite obvious, but you'd be surprised at how many blank looks I get when I call it that, so I usually say chicken salad, and let it go at that.  

I also made deviled eggs, and even made the sweet potato pie, which did not turn out well. 

I'm not sure why.  I mean, I didn't use sugar, but other than that, I followed the recipe exactly.  The only thing I can think of is that I used fat free evaporated milk, because that was all I had on hand and didn't want to go to the store.  That had to be what it was.  I'll still eat the pie, but from now on, I'll make sure I have real evaporated milk.  In fact, I've just added it to my shopping list so we'll be good to go for next time. 

I used my immersion blender to mix it all up, and I'm thinking that thing is the best investment I've ever made.  It's so much handier than having to drag the mixer out, and I even prefer it to mix up my smoothies, because it doesn't leave a layer of foam on top like the Magic Bullet did.  I'm so glad my sister had one in her wish list, or I'd have never gotten one myself. 

After filling my pie cruse, I had some filling left over, so I did something I used to do back in the day.  I dug out some old custard dishes I haven't used in ages, and put it into those, then baked them up.  Ghirardelli square included for scale. 

There was enough extra filling for two, but I'd already wrapped one and put it into the refrigerator before I thought to take a photo.   I'll put most of the pie into the freezer -- individually wrapped slices, of course, and eat them over time, which is probably more than you wanted to know.  

Don't envy me my exciting life. 

Truth is, I really enjoy days like this.  Those rare, relaxed days when I can do what I want, even if it is just cooking a pie, without having to feel like I'm rushed all the time, or constantly watching the clock, or being weighed down by all of the stuff I need to get done, but don't have the time or energy.  They don't come along very often, and so I treasure each one. 

So anyway, the temp when I woke up this morning was 52, and that was our high for today.  It's supposed to be flirting with freezing temps here in a couple of days, so I went ahead and brought all of my plants back inside. Other than that, I've spent the day watching the last episode of Miss Scarlet And The Duke and The Fat Electrician videos on YouTube. 

I just recently found his channels.  He has two:  The Fat Electrician and The Fat Files.  He gives really interesting history lessons, but they are not safe for work, small children, or anyone who doesn't appreciate the random obscenity tossed in.  I wish there were clean or bleeped versions at least -- because he tells good stories in an engaging way.  I think if history were taught like this, more kids wouldn't grow up hating it.  

That's about it for today.  I will not be watching the Super Bowl, because when one gets up ridiculously early one must also go to bed ridiculously early.  I'll find out who won soon enough. 

Laters...

Didn’t Happen

Remember all those things I said yesterday that I was going to do today?  Not a single one of them got done. Not one.  

Not even sleeping past 2:30 AM.  Oh, I intended to, but when that alarm went off and I switched it off then rolled over to go back to sleep, I didn't.  Go back to sleep, I mean.  I laid there for a while and dozed a bit, but never went back into a good, deep sleep.  

Along about 4:30, I gave up and got up.

I made myself some coffee, read a couple of chapters in my book, and didn't do much else, because that cold I felt like I was catching finally caught me.  I know the flu has been going around, but I don't think that's what I have.  This feels like your regular garden variety head cold.  

So, basically, I sat in the chair all day, watching TV -- there's a new season of Miss Scarlett And The Duke up on PBS -- and knitting. 

This hat is almost ready for the crown decreases, finally.  It seems like I've been working on it forever.  Of course, I've taken some breaks to do a charity hat and a couple of cowls, but I'm done with those, and this is now my top priority.  

Once it's done, I'm going to cake up and cast on with some of the new yarn I bought last month at the thing in Oxford.  And in two weeks, it'll be Fiber Fun In The 'Sip!  I've decided I'm not going to go early, so it'll just be a day trip for me. 

Other than my sinuses feeling like they're about to explode, this has been an absolutely gorgeous day.  Partly cloudy and warm enough I was able to open the windows and get some fresh air into the house.  Which is probably part of my problem.  Spring allergies and all. 

And yes, the flowers are starting to bloom. Here is a patch of purple deadnettle and and some ground ivy-- both of which are very valuable to the bees and butterflies.  So much so, I don't even mow my back yard until the deadnettle dies back.    

That's part of why I was so upset when that guy cut my yard last year.  That, and the fact that he came onto my property without permission, which I could have filed criminal tresspassing charges against him.  

This is spring beauty, sometimes called Virginia beauty. 

And henbit, which is delicious, by the way.   

Alas, Big Al was right and we have another couple of cold snaps on the way, but they'll be OK.  These, on the other hand, will have to come back into the house for a little while longer. 

And look at this crazy thing putting out another bud.  

They often bloom again in the spring, which is  why I call them Whatever Cactus.  Also, you can see below the Whatever Cactus my Venus Fly Trap, Marty Mac.  

As in Marty MacFLY.  Get it?  

OK, moving right along...He normally spends winter dormancy in the crisper drawer in my refrigerator, and when he starts showing signs of coming out of dormancy, I get him out and start warming him up.  Which is what I did today.  

Then I noticed how gunky my crisper drawers had gotten, so I pulled them out and gave them a good cleaning.   I really need to give the whole refrigerator a good once over, but that's going to have to wait until I feel better.  

You know what else didn't get done today that I didn't mention? Of course you don't, because I didn't mention it.  

When I was cleaning out my deep freeze last weekend, I found a whole container of sweet potatoes already boiled down and mashed.  I was going to make a sweet potato pie, because I have an extra pie crust left over from Thanksgiving, but I just didn't feel like it.  Plus, it was so hot by then, I didn't want to heat up the house by turning on my oven, so I ... um...turned on the oven to make the pizza I'd bought yesterday.  

Welcome to my crazy world.  

Maybe tomorrow, I'll make the pie.   Right now, I've got more knitting to do and TV to watch. 

Laters. 

It's A Miracle!

Thirty years...

Today is my thirty year anniversary out at the plant.  It's hard to believe it's been so long, but it has.  Funny thing is, it was only supposed to be a temporary job until I could build my savings up and move back to Texas, but that didn't work out as I had planned.

Those of you who've been reading my blog for a while have been able to share in some of the adventures I've had, but for what it's worth, there is a lot -- and I do mean a LOT-- I don't share here.  Too many coworkers, including some bosses, read the blog for me to be totally candid.  It could cost me my job.  Which at this point, I'm not exactly sure would be a bad thing.  

And I also know some of you are asking: 

 The good news is, they cancelled work tomorrow!  Yippee! First thing I'm going to do is to sleep past 2:30 AM, then I don't know what I'll do with the rest of my day.  At first, I thought I'd go make a new Pokémon Go route out at the Lee Tartt Nature preserve, depending on the weather, but I feel like I'm trying to catch a cold, so that might not happen. 

It will depend on how I feel.

We're supposed to have another cold spell coming through starting Sunday, so I'll definitely have to move my plants back inside, and I may go ahead and try to start some of those bluebonnet seeds I found.  

Oh, and the most amazing thing is, they let us go at 2:00 today!  Group Leader Shark came around and was saying, "I'm so proud of you all" because we got our numbers.  I was good, I kept my mouth shut, but I was thinking, "Yeah, it's so much easier to do when we are nearly fully staffed!"  Seriously, there were 11 brazers there today.  Usually, we're struggling to keep up with six or seven. 

After work, I went into town, paid a bill, and did my shopping.  They are re-modeling our Walmart and I hate it.  I was wandering around, unable to find anything, and I saw another lady looking as lost as I was.  I looked at her and said, "I can't find anything!"  She agreed with me, and a minute later another lady walked by and said, "Are y'all as lost as I am!"  

"Yes, ma'am!"  I replied.  

This wasn't the standard moving things around on the shelves rearranging, either.  They're moving everything, even ripping up the floors.  I hate that.  Every time they remodel, they just make things worse.  Less selection and higher prices.  

But anyway, I made it through and bought a DiGiorno's Stuffed Crust pizza as a treat for myself, which I will have tomorrow.  I also bought some of that Magic Spoon cereal, because that's one thing I've really missed since developing insulin resistance -- cereal.  Alas, most cereals here are basically eating  a bowl of sugar, or a bowl of cardboard if you get the bran stuff. 

It'll be a rare treat, though, because it's hecka expensive.  

Now, if you'll excuse me, I think I'll go have me a bowl of the stuff right now.  

Laters. 

Popping Up

Hey there!  I'm just popping my head up for a minute to let you know I'm still above the dirt.  I'm just exhausted.  

Lots of drama going on at work, but I don't feel like talking about it -- other than to say my stalker has suddenly decided that going to the bathroom up in the front office, you know, where he works, isn't good enough for him, so now he's got to walk all the way out onto the shop floor and go to the one right beside...you guessed it, sub-brazing. 

Oh, boy...

On to better news, look what else is popping up in my back yard!

Those, my friends, are daffodils!  And then there is this:

The purple deadnettle is starting to bloom.  Spring is on the way.  I have mixed feelings about this, because to me, spring means summer, and summer means 95 in my work area.  

Funny thing is, I got home from work one day earlier this week, and the realtor was showing the house next door.  My first thought was, "Oh, no!  I have to go fill my bird feeders.  I hope they don't see me and try to come over and talk!"  Then I remembered, I have a privacy fence!  So, I stepped boldly out into my own back yard and filled the feeder completely un-harassed.  

I really need to get the surveyor out here to mark my property lines and get the other side done.  I found what I believe to be the property marker in what would be the Northeast corner of my lot, and if it is, the side fence is fine, but it looks like the back fence would be just a few inches over onto the other lot.  I'm definitely going to want to make sure when I replace it that the entire fence is on my side. 

Here's the weird thing.  In a way, I feel guilty for wanting a privacy fence.  Why?  I don't know, but it's like I'm mentally accusing myself of being un-neighborly.  Oh, well, it is what it is, and the fence is going up. 

Alas, that's going to require a phone call, and that's something I just don't have the energy for right now.  I need to make a few phone calls, but that's really beyond me at the moment.  Some days when I get home, I'm so exhausted all I can do is sit limply in the chair until it's time for bed.  Which it almost is right now. 

Just so this post isn't a total loss, here is a progress photo of my latest hat. 

 I was so tired when I took it that I didn't even pose the hat on my chair. I just left it sitting on top of my laptop, beside the glasses I wasn't wearing because I was too weary to put them on. 

Now I'm going to go put this weary body into bed. 

Goodnight. 

Groundhog Day

Yeah, you know it's February 2, Groundhog Day, and since it falls on a Sunday this year, I wouldn't mind repeating this day over and over...

Now, I know some of you are going to get all haughty and say that rodents can't predict weather, but lighten up.  It's just a fun little tradition that has its origins in the areas that are present day Germany and Austria, and thereabouts.  When those ancient people saw ground dwelling rodents coming out of hibernation, they knew winter was almost over.  How it morphed into the observances we have today I don't know.  But there you have it. 

And for what it's worth, Punxsutawney Phil is wrong more often than he is right.  

Big Al, on the other hand, in always right, because he actually has a scientific basis for his predictions.  If his core body temperature has warmed up enough to stimulate his appetite, winter is almost over.  But this year, Big Al agrees with Phil.  He didn't eat, which means six more weeks of winter.  

OK, moving right along, I spend a lot of time watching YouTube since there is seldom anything worth watching on TV.  Even the stuff I do watch on TV are re-runs, but that's not the point of this story.  Some of the European creators I watch have started trying American recipes that they don't have over there.  I've posted some before, and at the risk of belaboring the point, I had to share this one with you.  

This guy is from Northern Ireland.  Fair warning, he's usually pretty foul mouthed, but this particular video is clean.  Anyway, his latest attempt is a peanut butter and....Jell-O sandwich.

Even my Portuguese friend knew that was wrong!  

That's pretty much all I have for today.  I hadn't planned on posting at all, but those two videos were so funny, I had to share them.  

I hope you enjoyed them as much as I did. 

Got 'Er Done

Whelp, today was the big day.  "What day was that?" you ask.  

Why it was the day I defrosted and cleaned my deep freeze!  

Don't envy me my exciting life. 

But anyway, as you can see, it desperately needed it.  

The frost on the sides had gotten so bad, it was probably about 3" thick, and I'd spilled some blueberries and something that looks suspiciously like soup in the bottom of it. The good news is, I was able to cram all of the snake food into my small freezer and since there was no need to rush for fear of anything thawing, I just let it sit open until those big chunks of ice loosened up and fell off.  Then I tossed them out into the back yard, where they still haven't completely melted.  

Yes, the freezer does have a drain, but I didn't use it.  I didn't want to deal with mopping up a mess, so I got out my shop vac and vacuumed up the rest of the crud in the bottom. 

A good wipe-down with a damp cloth and we have a nice, shiny clean freezer once again. 

I plugged it back in, gave it a couple of hours to get cold again, and all that snake food is once again nestled into the bottom of the deep freeze.  That is what I bought it for in the first place, after all.  Snake food.  

As I said, don't envy me my exciting life...

But look at what I found that was still in there. 

What is that?  I'm so glad you asked.  It's sleet from the big ice storm of 2021.  Now, wait a minute, hear me out...I'd wanted so badly to make snow ice cream that year, but alas, as usual we didn't get any snow.  Just a bunch of sleety mess.  Not one to be easily daunted, I collected a bunch of the aforementioned sleety mess and tried to make sleet ice cream. 

It didn't work.  

I eventually gave up and threw it all out, except this bag of sleet, which I somehow overlooked.  Maybe someday we'll once again get enough real snow to make snow ice cream, but for now, all I can do is watch and wait...

The other big project I undertook was to finally do something with this scarf. 

I'd knit this way back in 2012, and never liked how it turned out.  It was supposed to be a garter rib, but the stitches weren't balanced enough and no matter how severely I blocked it, the thing just wouldn't stop curling.  Not only that, I wasn't all that fond of the yarn I'd knit it out of, which was Knit Picks Imagination.  It was pretty enough, but was fuzzy, and splitty, and not a joy to knit. 

After leaving it in limbo for far too long, it was time to do something about it, so off to the frog pond it went.  That wasn't fun, either.  Remember the fuzz I talked about earlier?  Yeah, every couple of rows, I had to stop and loosen the yarn from the entanglement of the fuzz.  

It was very frustrating, and I had to take a lot of breaks, but eventually I got 'er done.  I ended up with three small hanks, which I knew there'd be at least two, because the scarf took more than one hank to knit to begin with.  Then I added the yarn I had leftover from knitting the matching hat. 

It is now soaking in a bowl of water until the kinks loosen up.  

And finally, someone is getting a letter. 

 I used my new little wax melter, and frankly I wasn't impressed.  It took forever to melt the wax, and it didn't turn out smooth and flowing at all.  I think it's because it was made for a 220 volt electricity system, which we have 120 volts here.   That may be why it takes so long.  But it was cheap, and it'll do, especially if I start buying the higher quality wax, once I'm through using up the cheap stuff.   I'll just melt my wax over a candle until then.  

I mean, if I can find some pen pals that live in the U.S, that is.  I have a pen pal in Australia, but don't trust the international mail with wax seals.  I don't really trust USPS with them, either, but I'm more willing to wing it here. 

I guess that's all for today.  I hope you've enjoyed this ride through my wild and crazy life.  Now if you'll excuse me, I'm watching a documentary on the Black Plague. 

My exciting life, and all...