Hats And Independence

Sundays can be a difficult day for me, because I was raised that Sunday is the Lord's Day and we don't work on the Lord's Day.  So I try to rest, as he commanded us to do, but I can't relax when there is so much I need to be doing.  Like, I've got so many phone calls to make -- which is difficult enough for an introvert such as myself, and I don't feel right disturbing other people on the weekends, since I don't like being disturbed on the weekends myself. 

What calls do I need to make?  

I need to call a contractor.

I need to call a landscaper.

I need to call a surveyor.

I need to call a tree guy.

I need to call a chimney sweep.

I need to call an eye doctor.

I usually end up just calling the whole thing off.   Then it eats at me that I still need to get all of this stuff done, and sometimes I wish I had someone to take care of me, but then I remember that every single man I've ever had a relationship with has tried to change who I am and it just isn't worth it. 

Therein lies the rub.  Contractors, plumbers, etc...they all treat single women like we're too dumb to realize when we're getting ripped off, so they do it with impunity.  At least the ones around here do.  That's one of the things I need to get done.  The guy I hired a few years ago to paint my house was supposed to replace all the rotten wood he found, but he didn't.  He just smeared a layer of wood putty over those boards, then painted that.  

It bought me a little time, but now it's getting to the point where I can't put it off any more, so I need to call a contractor to fix that.  Only I don't trust anyone any more.   Then there is the fact that so many of them have made me feel like I'm bothering or inconveniencing them by trying to hire them.  And there is the one who got mad and quit when I told him I wasn't allowed to have a phone at work, so I wouldn't be able to answer when he called, but if he left a message I'd get back to him as soon as I could...

Plus the whole introvert/phone call conundrum.  And the fact that I just can't seem to get my act together.  I need a personal organizer, but I can't even get my act together enough to ask if there are any in the area who could help me out. 

So I procrastinate...and knit.  Look!  I finished a hat!

This is only the second charity hat I've finished this year.  I need to get on the ball, or I won't even have enough to be worth mailing off in the fall.  The reason for that is all of these Sockhead hats I've been working on.  

I've been switching back and forth between these two, and am slowly making progress on both.  

And finally, today is Texas Independence Day, so happy day my fellow Texans!

To honor the day, I went and found this candle my older brother's family gave me for Christmas back in 2019.  

 I'd only lit it once, because I wanted to save it.  Because Texas.  But, it doesn't do anybody any good sitting back in a cabinet, so it's happily burning in my living room even as I type this. 

Now, if you'll excuse me, I found a video on YouTube about the Easter Outbreak of 2020.  That's the one that knocked my power out for 4 days.  Imma head on over there and watch it. 

By the way, we're expecting severe weather on Tuesday.  

Welcome to springtime in the South.  

Spring!

As my Old Dad would say, "spring is busting out all over."  Which was actually from a song, I think.  Hang on, let me research...

Yep, it was originally June Is Busting Out All Over, from the musical Carousel.  

Be that as it may, spring is busting out all over, fitting that today is the first day of Meteorological Spring.  Yesterday, on the way home from work, I saw someone plowing up the corn fields on the back side of Riverdale Road, and all the newborn calves in the pastures.  The jonquils are all over the place, and look at this:  

I've got daffodils in my yard!  It's been so warm, I put all of my plants back outside for some fresh air.  I'll have to bring them back in this evening, because we'll be flirting with frost tonight, but I think I might leave Marty Mac out in his little cage. 

Venus Fly Traps can handle a frost or two, so he's out for good unless we are expecting a hard freeze -- which I don't expect this late in the year.  But you never know.  

That being said, it was a bit chilly when I got up this morning, but after sunrise, it warmed up and became one of those Robert Spaulding's Wife days.  I took full advantage of it and put a little fire into the fire pit, then sat outside and started a letter on my new stationery. 

Not to my Australian pen pal.  No, this one is for a friend who's been having a rough time of it lately.  I thought a letter might brighten her day.  I hope...

I had to move my chair to the other side of the pit, because the wind was blowing the smoke right into my face.  In fact, the wind picked up so much I let the fire die down because I was worried about it blowing sparks or something -- even before the EMA sent out the notice that open burning is discouraged.  

Not before I'd roasted a weenie and made myself a hot dog, but with a slice of bread instead of a hot dog bun.  Because I didn't have any hot dog buns, and didn't want to go buy any.  I kind of prefer them on regular bread anyway.  I definitely prefer hamburgers on regular bread.  

Then I roasted a marshmallow.  I had planned on buying some of those sugar free, high dollar marshmallows, but they were out of them.  They had the burnt caramel flavor, but I didn't want those, so I settled for the stuffed ones and a lot of jogging in place afterwards. 

By the way, those stuffed marshmallows don't work as well as they say because the chocolate doesn't melt.  I supposed if you like yours blackened it would, but I don't.  I like my marshmallows a nice, toasty brown.  

After the fire died down, I moved to the other chair so I could watch the birds at the feeder. 

It's times like this I really wish I still had a SLR with a zoom lens, because there are a bunch of birds in that photo, but they're really hard to see.  Today's tally was cardinal, Towhee, sparrow, Junco, collared dove, and brown headed cowbird. 

Alas, it wasn't long before the wind became so strong it wasn't comfortable to stay outside, so I came in and watched some TV -- in the midst of my normal Saturday chores, that is.  I know I'd said I was going to paint the fence, but I felt the wind was just too strong to be using a paint sprayer, and I wasn't up to doing it with a brush, so it didn't get done.  

By the way, I started watching that new House Of David series on Prime.  Eh, it's OK and I'm enjoying watching it, but it's a bit too melodramatic to my taste.  Especially the background music.  You'd think you were at a funeral the whole time.  

Also by the way, the downside of leaving your French doors open on a windy day is that you get a house full of leaves. 

Pretty much the only other thing I got accomplished today was to finally get my bluebonnet seeds started, which involved dragging that old sewing machine out and setting it up.  

I've got to find a better option than that... on the other hand, I don't really expect the snakes to live much longer given how ancient they are.  Let's put it this way, in human years, Elon Musk would be cutting off their social security checks. 

Once they go to that great herpetarium in the sky, I can set my little seed starter up in a corner of that room.  Anyway, I got one pack of bluebonnet seeds started and a few of the Bachelor's Button seeds I saved from last year. 

Speaking of, I bumped into Supervisor Greenjeans yesterday and asked him what he does with all the stuff he plants.  He said he sells some and cans some...I asked him if he sells in the Farmer's Market on the square, and he said, "There's a Farmer's Market?"  

He didn't even know there's a Farmer's Market here.  He does now.  

While we're on the subject of work, there's been lots of drama going on out at the plant.  Some of it I can't talk about, but some of it I can.  Not in this post, though.  It's already long enough. 

And finally, if you didn't see Thursday's post, you might want to go back and read it.  For some reason, neither FB nor Threads published a thumbnail, so it just looked like a link.  I hope this one acts right. 

I guess we'll see.