Shine On

Shine on Harvest Super Moon, up in the sky!

It's been a tradition since my childhood that we go out and watch the Harvest Moon rise.  I don't know how or why it started, but it's something we always did with my dad.  It's a tradition I've tried to keep up with, but I almost missed it last night.  After all that yardwork, and a hot shower, I was settled in to my chair knitting and watching Land Of The Lost on Tubi.  

I just happened to glance over at the clock and shout to myself, "Oh!  It's time!"  

I'd debated on whether to drive out to the lake again, but decided against it this year, since it was in the middle of the week.  Harvest Moon or not, I still had to get up at 3:30 AM, so I watched it from home.  Just long enough for the moon to clear the trees, then I came inside and had my traditional mug of hot chocolate. 

Even though it was still 90° outside and the air conditioner was running, it's tradition.  

This afternoon, I got one of my chores knocked off the list.  Yep, I took the Incarnation of Evil in to the vet for her annual vaccinations.   I'd booked her appointment for 4:00 PM, but when Group Leader Shark told us we could leave at 2:00, I called the vet and asked if I could bring her in early.  They said I could, so we went right after work.  Wednesdays must be a slow day, because there was only one other person in there.  

The office has a new vet who has joined them, and I'm not sure I like him.  I mean, he gave the cat her shots, but didn't really do a checkup or anything.  He didn't even bring her record into the exam room with him.  I think next time she has to go, I'll request one of the other vets.  

This segues nicely into today's meme debunkeration topic.  Unfortunately, I couldn't find the meme I wanted to debunk.  I've seen it all over FB, but wouldn't you know it, when I want it, it's nowhere to be found.   Anyway, the meme states that mRNA vaccines for animals were banned 50 years ago.  This one is easily debunked, because the technology didn't even exist 50 years ago.  Ten seconds worth of research would have shown you that... 

In other news, I'm about to have an explosion of spider lilies in my back yard. 

 I have a bunch up in the newly fenced in area that I want to move, but I don't know what I'm going to do with them.  Maybe I'll plant them alongside the fence so that the line of lilies goes all the way up to the front.  

I also want to find something to do with this rock. 

 

I knew it was out there, because I'd seen it out by the fence with just a little bit of it showing.  The fence guy dug it up when he put my new fence in, but I had no idea it was this big.  I think it's cool looking and want to use it as a design element somewhere.  I just don't know where yet. 

I'm thinking of making some sort of little rock garden in the corner and using this as a focal point.  I'll have to look up some ideas on Pinterest and see what I can come up with.   And as always, I'll take you on that journey with me. 

But for now, the only journey I want to take is to bed.  To sleep.  Perchance to dream....

Laters....

What Is That?

What is that great light in the sky?  Hark!  It is the sun!  It appears Ol' Francine has finally shaken out the last of her skirts and skedaddled on out of here. It's about time, too.  I thought she'd never go. 

OK, clearly I don't get enough sleep, but seriously, it's been way too long since we've seen the sun here.  I took advantage of it and got the front yard mowed for the first time in about a month.  

I even weed wacked the ditch.  I was going to do the side yard, too, but by the time I was don with all that, I was so tired I was about to fall over.  Remember, I'm doing this after a 10 hour shift in the factory.  So I came inside and took a hot shower, then settled down to watch the new season of Halloween Baking Championship.  

In other news, some of you may recall I got myself one of those compost tumbler about a year ago.  

 The thing about it is, it works great on grass clippings and fallen leaves, and even kitchen scraps.  But the big stuff, like this...

not so much.  

I'd been looking at getting a larger bin, but while I was pondering, I ran across these composting bags. 

Basically, it's a bag shaped tarp with a zip close lid.  It's also got a little flap on the bottom where you can take out the composted stuff while still adding more to the tope.  It got good reviews and was less than $20, so I thought I'd give it a try.  I put some grass clippings into it, and was going to start chopping up the pile of stuff shown above, but nah, that can wait until another day.  I'm tahrd.  

And finally, I finished reading Thomas Jefferson And The Tripoli Pirates, and now I'm reading The Ancient Origins Of Modern Holidays, by Ken Johnson.  I've only just started, but it's supposed to be a rebuttal of all those claims that Christian holidays are actually pagan.  I'll let you know how it goes. 

One Weekend

 One of these weekends, it will be sunny and not too hot and I will be able to get out and do all the things I'd planned on doing on my weekends off.  This was not that weekend, and today was not that day, either.  Yes, it has rained off and on all day.  I mean, not that I had planned on doing much today anyway, it being a Sunday and all, but still.  

On a completely unrelated note, I ordered $100 worth of coffee from Amazon this morning.  I'll tell you about it when it gets here.  

So, what did I do on this dreary rainy day?  Weekend?  I knit.  

I had finished the last hat I was working on -- which I already showed you -- and felt like I needed a break from hats, so I picked this scarf back up and added a few more inches to it. 

I worked on it for a bit, then I needed something more mindless for the football games, so I cast on... another hat.  

At this point, I can pretty much do them with my eyes closed.  Or on the TV screen.  Whatever. 

On another completely unrelated note, I finished reading Black Gold, and am now reading Stormy: Misty's Foal.  

OK, moving on...

If you've been on social media at all, no doubt you've seen this meme. 

While technically it's true--ish-- what most people don't seem to want to think about is, with the cup of melon on the right, you're not just paying for the fruit.  You're also paying for someone to peel and cut it up for you.  If you go buy a whole watermelon, a whole honeydew, a whole cantaloupe, and a whole mango and cut it up yourself, you're going to get a whole lot more fruit for the same amount of money.  

But what about the fries, you ask?  Doesn't someone have to peel and cut them, too?  Nope.  That process is almost completely automated.  There are YouTube videos that show how it's done, if you're interested enough to go look one up.  The point is, it can be done with minimal manpower, unlike cutting melons.  

BTW, I've come up with a new term for those people who mindlessly believe these memes without so much as a single critical thought about them, much less researching them.  Meme Sheep.  

Don't be a Meme Sheep.  Think about these things before you repost them.  The creators of these mems aren't interested in sharing accurate information.  They're going to post what gets them the most likes and shares to boost their page stats.  

Abrupt change of subject.  This is the post that got removed from both Instagram and Threads, because it supposedly incites violence.  

It's very threatening, isn't it. It's still up on Facebook, but I expect that will change soon enough, even though I changed knock to bop.  It's stuff like that why I don't use Meta much any more. 

On yet another completely unrelated note, I love those Devante Adams Taco Bell commercials.  

And finally, about a year ago, I'd bought one of those light traps for bugs.  You know, like the Zevo, only the ones I got were a different brand.  I've had it in the kitchen and it works pretty well, so I decided to get one for my bedroom. 

Bad move.  It doesn't seem like they put out that much light until you're trying to go to sleep.  I had to take it out and move it to another room.  First, I tried putting it into my bathroom, but that wasn't much better.  Now, it's in the living room, and that's where it will stay.  

I guess that's it for today.  There is a new season of Halloween Baking Championship I need to start watching. 

Laters...

Downtown Jubilee

This morning was my town's annual Downtown Jubilee, and as always, I got up and went.  It seems to me it's really fallen off these last few years -- maybe because they no longer have the car show.  I don't know why they stopped, but they did.  That was one of my favorite parts, and I'm not even a classic car person.  It's still cool to see all of them.  Still, they had the vendor booths, and food trucks, and bouncy stuff for the kids, and several entertainers up there singing.  

I walked around a bit and looked at all the little craft booths, but nothing jumped out at me as something I just had to have, so I didn't buy anything.  The Adult Education center was handing out free books, as they usually do, and let me pick whichever one I wanted.  I got Charlie And The Chocolate Factory in hard copy. 

I only stayed an hour, then came home and got inside my air conditioning.  It wasn't that hot, but the humidity was so high I could feel my hair curling.  I did manage to walk one of the Pokémon Go routes down there and earned a new route badge, but the routes around the Square are kind of weird.  I may walk it a few more times to get the badges, but mostly, I'll stick with the ones down by the lake. 

As I said, I didn't stay long, and made it home in plenty of time to watch football.  LSU got really lucky today.  If South Carolina's quarterback hadn't been knocked out of the game, they wouldn't have won.  I've said it before, and I'll say it again, Brian Kelly is not the coach LSU needs -- especially after the hissy fit he pitched when they lost to USC.  

While I was watching the game, I asked Meta AI to create an image for LSU Tigers, and this is what they gave me:  

I sent it to Cody, and he said, "I see no inaccuracies."  

And now for today's meme debunkeration.  I've seen this -- or something very similar -- going around social media for a while now.  

And while it's true that taxes have gone up, prices have gone up (wages have gone up, too, but nobody wants to mention that), and inflation is out of control, the fact of the matter is that we had a much, much lower standard of living back then, too.  In those days, a three bedroom one bath 1200-1500 square foot house, and not just for a starter home.  Those were the forever homes people bought to live in the rest of their lives.  

These days, young people would turn up their noses at a house like that.  "I'm not going to live in a shack!" they pout, and so they buy the five bedroom four bath 2500-3000 square foot house with a game room, man cave, swimming pool and "space to entertain", then struggle to pay the mortgage -- not to mention how much more it costs to heat and cool such a house.  In the days when a HS diploma could support a family of five, they didn't even have air conditioning.  

And they didn't have cable TV, or internet, or a cell phones for each member of the family, or three or four cars-- each requiring gas, maintenance, and insurance -- or multiple gaming systems, each with its own subscription price.  And they didn't eat out or order in nearly every day, either.  Eating out was a rare treat.  Normally, Mom cooked, and if she was like my mom, she used a lot of rice in what she prepared.  

Seriously, I was grown before I realized that chili isn't normally served over rice.    BTW, at the risk of stirring up an old controversy, beans were added to chili to stretch the meal as well. 

Then you ate leftovers until they were gone.  Our parents and grandparents didn't waste food the way we do today.  

So yeah, they could live comfortably, but they had a vastly different definition of what was comfortable than we do today.  And you know what?  I'll bet if you find people willing to go back to that standard of living, they could survive on one salary, too.  

And finally, I almost got my Fall decorations out this afternoon, but got lazy and didn't do it.  Maybe next weekend...when astronomical autumn starts...

Now, if you'll excuse me, the Texas ball game is about to start and I must go...

Laters...

And Hook 'Em. 

Facebook

Facebook is a dying platform, and Zuckerberg is in panic mode because of it.  Young people aren't getting on it, because they say it's their parent's social media.  It's for old folks, they say.  

Old folks aren't getting on is as much as they used to, either, because it just isn't fun any more  -- mostly because of the changes they've made to the site over the years.   There is so much they could do to make it fun again, but no.  They're getting ever more restrictive, so it's no longer such a nice place to hang out. 

I've been noticing this in my memories -- the few they haven't taken down, I mean.  We used to have real conversations about real topics.  We posted serious topics, but we also posted jokes and teased each other a bit.  And yes, we talked about our dinners and TV shows, too, but it was a great place for social interaction. 

Nowadays, it seems all you see in your feed are ads.  I logged in one morning and I kid you not, I scrolled past sixteen --SIXTEEN-- ads before I got to a real post posted by a real friend.  It's supposed to be social media, not an advertising platform.  

But when you do post a real post, chances are it's going to get removed and/or you will get put into Facebook jail.  Heh, it cracks me up when people say they won't use Facebook because of Zuckerberg's spying and fact checking, but they will be on Instagram which is owned by...wait for it....Facebook!  They can be even more strict over there, too.  My post about buying a Squishmallow was removed from Instagram (and when I appealed, they refused to restore it) because I was somehow inciting violence by buying a stuffed toy.  Go figure. 

Facebook, on the other hand, didn't remove the post.  Go figure again...

All that to say I don't get on Facebook much any more. I scroll through a couple of times a day to see if I can see what my friends are up to, and occasionally I'll post a meme or weather update, but that's about it -- other than links to the blog.  Therein lies my conundrum.  I'd love to leave Facebook altogether, but most people won't check in to the blog unless they see the link in their Facebook feeds.  

I actually started a Substack account as an alternative, but find I wasn't getting enough of an increase in hits to make sharing the link over there worth it.  Besides, that doesn't seem the place for a personal blog like mine.  They're all so serious, and everything has to be meaningful or political or whatever.  

Anyway, enough of my moaning.

I'd said yesterday that I hadn't gotten any damage from the hurricane, but it turns out I did.  My favorite sunflower had several branches broken off from the high winds.  

I didn't see it yesterday, because it was still raining.  I went out this afternoon and trimmed the broken bits off and put them into the compost pile.  I still need to mow and finish painting the fence, and one day it will stop raining and I will be able to do just that.  Today was not that day.  It has been drizzly and rainy all day from the remnants of Francine. 

The only thing I was able to do was go to the store.  Oh, and I drove by the lake and dropped off some Pokémon into the gyms out there.  I hadn't planned on walking any of the routes, but it stopped raining just long enough for me to quickly walk one of the shorter routes before going on to Walmart.  I thought about walking it twice, but didn't because I'd walked out and forgot my water on the kitchen cabinet.  

When I got back home, we had no water.  Apparently, the storm caused a leak and they had to shut off the water to fix it.  I wish I'd known that before I repotted one of my Christmas Cacti.  Or Thanksgiving cacti for those of you who are pedantic about such things.  

That poor cactus has been through the wringer.  I was plant sitting a few of  Beverly and James' plants while they were moving back to Texas and accidentally broke off a piece.  I felt bad about that, so I rooted it.  It was doing great for a couple of years, then in 2019 something -- probably a squirrel-- dug it up.  I salvaged a piece and rooted it again.  It was struggling, but surviving, then a couple of years ago, it inexplicably died back.  Again, I managed to salvage a piece and put it into one of those temporary pots you buy plants in at the store.  It looks like it's taken, so I figured it was time to put it into a regular pot. 

And finally, I forgot to mention. I re-upped my Paramount Plus subscription.  They had a deal where if you are a new or returning subscriber, you could get it for $2.99 per month.  The only catch is you had to pay for a whole year at once, but that wasn't but $30 ish.  I did that nearly a week ago, but so far, I haven't watched a single thing...

My friend told me to watch A Quiet Place, so I might do that this evening.  

All Good

First up, let me reassure you I made it through the remnants of Francine just fine.  I was at work for most of it, but every time they opened the scrap dock doors, I could see the trees whipping in the wind.  We got a good bit of rain, too.  The official total was 3.75", but I think we got more than that based on how much was in my rain collecting bucket.  

I heard that some people in town lost electricity, but mine never went off.  Other than a bit of low water pressure, we're all good here. 

I’d come home yesterday and finished up my storm prep— which mostly involved moving as much stuff as I could from my small freezer into my deep freeze, then putting four 2-liter bottles filled with water on top of it all, just in case the power went out. 

Probably the hardest part was convincing the cat that she really didn’t want to go outside. I know it looks nice now, but it’s going to be storming before we get up! She didn’t like it and let me know well into the night, but she eventually settled down and went to sleep.

Now I know some people will say I did all that panicking for nothing, but it’s better to be safe than sorry. As Ryan Hall says, don’t be scared, be prepared. Because if you’re prepared, there’s nothing to be scared of.

Well, as you probably know, we lost a great actor this week when James Earl Jones died.  As a tribute, I came home and watched the episode where he guest started in The Big Band Theory. 

 Now I'm watching Land Of The Lost on Tubi.  Funny, you don't realize how cheesy these old shows are when you're watching them as a kid.  

That's about all I have for today.  Maybe something more exciting will happen tomorrow.  

Tell It To Your Children

Tell it to your children, and let your children tell it to their children, and their children to the next generation.  -- Joel 1 : 3

So that we may never forget.

Storm Prep

OK, there really wasn't that much prepping to be done, but I did it anyway.  It's not even supposed to get here until Thursday, and will be greatly weakened by then, but I went ahead and brought the plants inside -- just in case the wind starts picking up before I get home from work tomorrow evening.   

We're expecting some wind and maybe 2-4" of rain, but not much more. 

 And Francine is now a hurricane.  Time to light the candle. 

Ugh

The first day back at work is never fun, and today was no exception.  Man, when that alarm went off at 3:30, it made me seriously question my life choices.  But somebody has to pay the bills around here and this evil cat of mine isn't out there hustling up a paycheck, so out of bed I got and off to work I went. 

Where the day passed largely uneventfully, and after some of the days I've had lately, that was a welcome respite.  I'd thought I was going to come home and get at least the front yard mowed before that hurricane makes it this far inland, but I didn't.  It was too hot and I was too tired.  Eh, it'll last until the weekend.  

What I did do was to come home and start watching some of the videos for my new piano book, the Faber All In One Adult Piano Course.  I've actually had it for a while, but I've only recently started going through it.  Anyway, the book has QR codes that take you to the videos the author has made, but I found the channel that I'm going through my Alfred's book with -- Let's Play Piano Methods -- has also made a playlist of lessons for the Faber book.  

I hope that paragraph made sense.  I'm so tired, I don't know for sure. 

What it all boils down to is, I'm watching both sets of videos as I'm going through this book.  Honestly, the Let's Play Piano Methods videos are much clearer and he explains things so much better than Mr. Faber does.  He also agrees with some of the things I thought about the book, such as it introduces some concepts way too soon.  Transposing, for example.  If you haven't even learned what the keys are -- remember this is a book for beginners -- then why would you even worry about transposing?  And why would you try to improvise your own tunes when you don't even know what a chord is?  Mr. LPPM says not to worry about any of that until later, so I'm not going to.  

I still intend to vlog some of this, now that I'm getting to the part where we play real songs.  I just haven't. 

OK, moving right along, I finished the hat I'd been working on yesterday. 

I still have quite a bit of yarn left, but I don't think it's enough for another whole hat, so I may pick up some black and make a couple of black hats with a section of this.  Or maybe I'll do stripes.  I don't know yet.  I think it's Mexicana colorway, but I don't rightly remember, and I threw the label away.  

I guess the big news is, I'm finally in the cone once again!

And yes, I do realize I shouldn't sound so excited about that, but I'm far enough inland this storm won't pose a major threat to me.  We are expected to get 2"-4" of rain from it, though, and we desperately need that.  

Best of all, I'll finally get to light my Trying To Reason With Hurricane Season candle for the first time since I bought it.  (Scroll back a few posts.)

And finally, for those of you who don't live along the coast, here's a handy dandy guide to hurricane categories. 

 Now I need to get my hiney into bed.  Good night, all. 

Sunny Sunday

I hadn't intended to, but this morning it was 58° when I woke up, and what with football on the TV, and the windows open, it felt so much like Fall, I had to put out a decoration.  Just one...this one on my front door. 

It was just cool enough that I needed a light blanket as I sat drinking my morning cup of coffee.  And the coolness made that coffee hit just right.

But, even with the beautiful cool weather, I did not get up and go back out to the lake this morning.  I kind of wanted to, but I knew I'd be feeling it in my legs soon.  Instead, I hung around the house and piddled in the back yard a bit.  

I finally got that Black Eyed Susan planted and put a cloche over her so I don't accidentally mow her down.  

I'm really hoping she comes back.  I know they're perennials, but I don't usually have much luck with those.  Purple coneflowers, blanket flowers -- none of them seem to survive. 

It was so nice outside, I thought briefly about mowing, but didn't because I didn't really want to.  I started digging up these day lilies, but didn't get very far with that. 

There are a bunch of them I need to move, and if anyone wants some free day lily bulbs, just let me know.  Seriously, I've got more than I know what to do with.  I've still got a bucket full of daffodil bulbs I dug up last spring that I need to do something with, too.  

Then there is this.    

It's the only remaining sunflower I have from the seeds I got at my nephew's wedding -- the others having already gone through their natural lifespans.  I really, really hope this one re-seeds itself and I get another one next year.  I think of all of them, this was my favorite. 

The spider lilies behind the house are really coming on, too,  

but the ones along the fence won't come up until later.  I've noticed that the ones in shady spots bloom sooner, though they do well in sunlight, too.  

After that, I came inside and watched a couple of episodes of Merlin and one of Father Brown.  BTW, Sister Boniface has made her appearance, and I can see why she got her own spinoff show.  Now I'm really wanting to start that one, too.  If you take Miss Bates from the version of Emma that stars Gwyneth Paltrow, and mix her with Benedict Cumberbatch's portrayal of Sherlock, you get Sister Boniface.  

Now, I need to get off of here, because the Cowboys game is about to start.  

Laters.

Beautiful Saturday

It was an amazingly beautiful day today.  If it had been just a few degrees cooler and slightly less windy, you could call it a Robert Spaulding's Wife day.  

As it happened, it was beautiful enough that I managed to get myself moving enough to go walk some Pokémon Go routes out at the lake this morning.  It was such a pleasant morning -- cool, and low humidity, but I thought that wind was blowing like a wooly booger. 

So anyway, I walked the route twice because it was so short and got two route badges from it.  Then I dropped off four Pokémon in gyms, and came on home after that.  I'd thought about driving across the dam, but the wind was blowing so hard I was afraid it would blow me off the top of the levee.   OK, not really, but it was a pretty stout breeze.

After I got home, it was still cool enough to open my French doors and my kitchen window and let some fresh air into the house.   Then I got to work.  It's amazing how much you can get done when you're not absolutely crushed by oppressive heat and humidity.  But I'm sure you don't want to hear about the housework I did, so I'll show you this:  

I got all these hats tagged and boxed up, ready to send off to the Seaman's Church Institute for their Christmas At Sea program.  I didn't use safety pins this time...

Then I finally made a squash casserole out of the squash my coworker gave me a couple of weeks ago, and had some of that for lunch.  But the good news is, while I was getting some onion out of the freezer, I found one more container of that pastalaya Cody made me for Mother's Day!  That's going to be my supper tonight. 

Then I made a chocolate mousse that I found online.  It's really simple.  One cup whipping cream, 2 tbsp cocoa, 2 tbsp stevia, and half a tsp of vanilla.  Whip it until it forms stiff peaks then freeze for a few hours.  It's not super sweet as it is, but I think next time I'll add a bit more stevia.  

And finally, when they'd started clearing the woods behind my house, I'd taken the squirrel feeder down off of the pecan tree behind the fence.  I still haven't decided where to put it permanently, but this afternoon, I set it on the ground out by the back fence. 

 The squirrels have already found it, and I hope this will keep them from digging in my herb beds.  

Oh, and one last thing.  I was watching my friend Marcy's Vlog on YouTube and she mentioned another channel called Honeystead.  She grows a lot of herbs and such, and in one of her videos, she's talking about the benefits of lemon balm.  I made myself some lemon balm tea last night.   That's why I bought the stuff to begin with, but haven't really used it for that.  I've only been drying it and giving it to Cody for cooking.  She also mentioned making a tincture with it.  I need to go find that one and watch it, but right now, I'm about to go heat up that pastalaya and completely destroy my blood sugar levels. 

Laters.  

First Friday Off

Well, the rain put a damper -- he he-- on my plans for the day, but we needed it so badly, I'm not complaining.   And it's rained pretty much all day, too-- a slow, drizzly rain that really soaks into the ground.  

Instead of painting the fence and mowing the yard, or going walking down at the lake, I stayed inside and watched Merlin, Vera, and Father Brown Mysteries while finishing a letter to my Australian pen pal and knitting on a hat.   

Probably a good thing, because I had some headers yesterday at work that were so awful my whole back and arms are extremely sore.  It was a big order too, and there is that one parts stager who won't split an order to save her soul.  She doesn't like doing all that counting, she says, so she won't divide it up no matter how difficult the parts or how big the order.  We just have to deal with it. 

Speaking of work, it seems to me that they are going out of their way to make our jobs difficult.   The latest thing now is that we can no longer type our employee number into the computer when we're confirming our work.  We've done it for years -- ever since they installed this new system.  It's easy and convenient, since our hands are already on the keypad.  But no, now we have to stop what we're doing, dig out our badges, and scan them.  The real question is why?  What was so wrong with us typing our clock numbers in?  

What was so wrong with me carrying my 54 oz Bubba Keg, for that matter?  Way back in the day, I filled that thing up once every morning, and it lasted me all day -- except for the very hottest days of summer.  Now, with that stupid clear cup we have to carry, I have to go refill it five or six times per day.  That's the trade off.  It's either the big mugs, or employees walking to the ice machine multiple times a day.  

I still don't understand that one.

In other news, a few years ago, I was listening to the radio while I was getting ready for work, and some girl on there was saying that country music is biased against women, because women don't get as much air time as men do.  

Seriously?  The genre that was pretty much founded by a mother and her three daughters biased against women?  The genre of Loretta Lynn?  Of Tammy Wynette and Tanya Tucker?  Of Crystal Gale?  Of Reba, Trisha, Barbara Mandrell, and The Judds?

The genre of Patsty Cline and of course the Queen, Dolly Parton?  

"Maybe if you'd make better music, you'd get more air time," I said to the radio that morning, then went on about my day and forgot the conversation..

Until I was driving to work one more and Delta Dawn came on the radio.

They don't make songs like that any more.  

Maybe if they did, they'd get more air time.  

Rough Day

It's been a rough week, and today was the roughest day of all.  But it's all over now, and I have a Squishmallow. 

The first Spider Lily of the year is open, 

and there is football on the TV tonight.   It's not quite cold enough for hot chocolate, but you know what?  

I think I'm going to get me some anyway. 

First Day Back

There I was at work, just a working away, when Group Leader Shark came out of the upstairs office and hollered down from the landing, "Hey!  Two O'clock!  Two O'clock!" 

I don't know why they let us go on time, but I didn't argue.  I was out of there.  I thought briefly about going to the lake and walking a trail, but by then, my feet were hurting so badly all I did was come home and watch TV.  

Well, after watering my herb gardens, refilling the wildlife trough, and trimming the dead leaves off of Marty Mac -- my Venus Fly Trap.  Oh, and refilling the hummingbird feeder as well.  I think migration must be starting, because I'm having to fill it much more often now.  

I'd planned on coming home and filming the first vlog about my new piano course, since I'm finally getting to the part where there are real songs, but I was too tired to even do that.  Getting up at 3:30 after being able to sleep in as long as I wanted will do that to a person.  

Maybe tomorrow, but for now, I'll just leave you with a hat progress photo, 

and get myself to bed. 

Goodnight. 

I Didn't Labor

Oh, I had so many plans for this Labor Day...so much stuff I intended to get done, but in the end I didn't do any of it.  Well, not much of it at least.  The only thing I was able to mark off of my list was to wash out my kitchen trash can.  It's been too long, and it was pretty gunked up.  Now it's all nice and clean -- at least as clean as a garbage can can be. 

Then I decided to clean the outside of my kitchen window, which involved taking out the screen.  That was a bear but we persevered and got it done.  Then it was another bear to put back in, but now the glass is so much cleaner than before, I keep thinking I've left the window open.  

I really want to get all of my windows replaced with new, energy efficient ones that I can actually open and close without a struggle, but all home improvements are pretty pricey right now.  I'll likely have to do a few at a time, but once I'm done, it'll be worth it in the long run.

So, what did I do all day?  Well, I didn't labor, that's for sure!  I cast on another hat for the Seaman's Church Institute. 

In the latest Knit Before Christmas magazine that they send out, they'd included a page of gift tags.  There weren't nearly enough, so I made copies of them, and wonder of wonders, they turned out OK. 

Then I spent the next few moments cutting them out and punching the holes.  Now, I just need to write my message and tie them to the hats.  Oh, and the mag said not to use safety pins, which is what I'd used last year.  Oops.  This time around, I'll know better and use scrap yarn.  

And finally, September is usually the busiest month of hurricane season, so I've got my candles at the ready.  

 The Jim Cantore repellent is for any time a hurricane enters the Gulf, and the Trying To Reason is for when I'm in the cone.  I haven't been able to light that one since I got it.  

Let's keep it that way, OK?  

Now if you'll excuse me, I've got some Father Brown mysteries to watch. 

Happy Fall!

Happy first day of meteorological Fall, which is the one I follow because meteorology is better than astrology.  

I said what I said.  

And look, I've got spider lilies coming up.  

See, even they know. 

Normally, Labor Day weekend is when I usually put out all of my Fall decorations, but this year, I'm just not feeling it. Oh, I'll get them out eventually, but it'll be a bit later.  I don't know what's wrong with me, but there is a lot I haven't been feeling here lately.  I had so much stuff I was going to get done yesterday, but all I really did was sit and watch football. 

Navy won.  Texas won.  Nope, that's all we care about, though Oklahoma did a nice tribute to Toby Keith.  OK, OK, Ole Miss and Mississippi State both won, too, and LSU plays tonight.  Good thing I have tomorrow off, because I'm watching that game.  

Since we finally had a Saturday off, I got up and went to the Farmer's Market yesterday morning.  I didn't buy much, but I did get a jar of that salsa Brennan had spoken so highly of.  I wanted to see what the fuss was about, and it is pretty good.  I'm not really a salsa person, but I like that stuff.  I also bought some tea cakes and a loaf of homemade bread.   Heh, after eating all that, I expected my blood sugar to be off the charts this morning, but it was only 98.  I'm not sure what I did right, but apparently it was something.

Oh, and I splurged and bought myself a pizza, too.  But at Walmart, not the Farmer's Market.  While I was there-- at the Farmer's Market, not Walmart-- I took a photo of that building that had been destroyed in the storm a few weeks back. 

It doesn't look like they've done much too it, other than fence it off.  It's been an eyesore on our town square for years, and I really hope the owner takes care of it quickly.  I'm not holding out much hope, because like I said, it's been an eyesore for years.  Shame, that, because it was once such a nice building.  It had a shop on the ground floor, and apartments on the upper floors.  They even had little Juliet balconies on the windows.  

Speaking of cleaning, look what I found in my locker. 

Now, that is a blast from the past.  We haven't been Heatcraft in probably 25 years.  They've even changed all of our employee numbers since then, too.  Back in the day, there were three Heatcraft plants here, all owned by Lennox.  Somewhere along the way -- back in the late 1990s if I remember right-- Lennox sold off the other two -- which are both now owned by Modine, but kept ADP.  Since we were no longer Heatcraft, we had to get all new badges.  I don't know why I kept this one, but I did.  I found it tucked away in a little bag I used to carry my inspecting tools when I was an inspector.  That was in like, 1998-1999, so the change had to have come around then. 

OK, enough of that.  So, while I was watching all of that football, I managed to finish this hat. 

Then, this afternoon, I got all of the hats out and washed them.  There are 25 that are ready to box up and send off, only my printer is acting up so I can't print the tags.  I've tried running the cleaning cycle several times, and it's better, but still not quite right.  I'll work with it some more, but I can e-mail the Seaman's church institute and they'll send me some, so that's probably what I'll do if I can't get it fixed. 

And finally, I got Hen-Bit out and worked on her a bit more.  I got her comb and wattle sewn on, but the wattle doesn't look quite right to me.  Good thing I'm keeping her.  Then I got the eyes on, but decided that was enough sewing for the day, and back into the drawer she went. 

Heh, I'd left the long tails of yarn to sew the seams, but like a dummy, I'd forgotten why I hadn't woven them in, and started weaving them in.  Fortunately, I'd only done a little bit before I remembered why I'd left them out and was able to stop myself before doing them all.  

I will get her finished one day.  Just not today.