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...

At Long Last

At long last, we have finally come to the end of the longest month in the year.  Yes, that's right.  Today is the last day of January -- and the first day was six months ago. 

And at long last, I have finally come to the end of this cowl, which should have taken just an afternoon to knit.   How's this for a game of yarn chicken?  

I was really sweating it there for a moment, but I made it.  Barely, and the cowl is ready for the gift drawer.  

 Anyway, this has been a long, rough week at work, but it's over now, and wonder of wonders, we have tomorrow off.  I don't plan on doing much of anything, other than the usual laundry and such.  Oh, and getting that deep freeze defrosted, but I did want to pop in and let you all know I'm still here. 

Maybe tomorrow I'll write a longer post.  Provided something post worthy happens.  

For now, I'm going to get myself something to leat.  

Laters. 

I Meant To

I meant to blog yesterday.  Really I did.  But by the time I got home, I was so exhausted that I went to bed at 6:30.  But if I hadn't been so tired, I was going to tell you that my coworker came to me yesterday morning, and said, "I have something for you." 

She handed me a small brown bag, and when I looked inside, I saw...

cocoa toppers!  She explained, "I read your blog and saw that you didn't like the ones from Walmart, so I ordered you these from World Market."   That was so sweet of her!  

I'd intended to have one last night, but I was so worn out, I just went straight to bed.  So, I made some hot chocolate when I got home today, and let me tell you, they are so much better than the ones from Walmart.  

They're much softer, and actually taste like marshmallows.  I love them, so if you're reading this, thank you again!  

Then I was going to tell you about my new hoodie I'd bought from Til Valhalla that finally arrived after being snowed in for a few days. 

Unfortunately, I'd accidentally ordered the wrong size and had to send it back.  Even more unfortunate, they were out of the size I wear, and since it's a limited edition run, they won't be getting any more in.  Maybe next fall, they'll do another run.  In the meantime, I asked for store credit, and might get a t-shirt with the same message on it, once it's applied to my account. 

That was all I was going to talk about yesterday, so today I'll show you my new medal I got from Yes.Fit.  

If I do any more of these races, I'm going to have to put up another medal rack. 

In other news, since it's supposed to be pretty warm over the next few days, I went ahead and put some of my houseplants outside this afternoon for some fresh air and sunshine. 

I'm sure they appreciated it.  I brought them in when it got dark, just in case, even though it's not supposed to be cold enough to frost for several days at least. 

On a similar note, one of the supervisors stopped me at work and asked if I'd started my garden yet.  I said, "Nawwww".  He said he'd already plowed his up, and showed me a picture of it.  It's as big as two football fields.  

I don't see how he has the energy to work a garden that big after working at the plant all day...but then, way back when I was his age, I had a lot more energy, too.  

But for now, I'm completely out...of energy, that is, so I'm going to end this and go to bed.  

Goodnight. 

Couldn't Sleep

I couldn't sleep again last night, only this time it wasn't insomnia.  It was that I drank more caffeine yesterday than I'm accustomed to.  I usually only drink my morning coffee, and a few sips of Diet Dr Pepper with my lunch -- and I do mean a few.  I buy the little 12 oz bottles, and it may take me a whole week just to drink one of them.  

But yesterday, I had one of the big cups full of the stuff at Newk's, then filled my cup up again before I left, so I was drinking it all the way home.  Thus, when I went and laid down in the bed, I just wasn't sleepy.  Tired, but not sleepy, if that makes sense.  So, I opened up my Kindle and finished reading my Song Of Albion trilogy.  

I hadn't intended to finish, just to read a chapter or two until I got sleepy, but once I started reading, I couldn't stop.  Shortly before 1:00 AM, I finished the book, then immediately regretted it because now I'm done and there is no more to read.  Of that trilogy, I mean.  I've got plenty of books.  

In fact, I recently bought the entire Charles Dickens collection on Kindle daily deal, so I might start reading some of those.  And I bought Go Set A Watchman by Harper Lee, so that's also a possibility.  I want to re-read To Kill A Mockingbird, too, so I'll do that first. 

In other news, for those of you who have been following the saga of my deep freeze, I'm almost there.  For those of you who haven't, nothing is wrong with it.  I'm just trying to empty it out so I can defrost and clean it really well.  Part of that involves making room in my small freezer, so I can fit more food in there.  It turns out I have a shocking number of those fake ice packs, you know, like you can put into a cooler to go camping with.  

I got all of those out, and once I'd done that, I was able to move the last of the food into the small freezer.  The only thing left in the deep freeze is the snake food and...all of those fake ice packs.  Oh, and a bag of Christmas tree shaped ice that I couldn't quite bring myself to melt.  Now I just need to get myself a big cooler to put all of the snake food into, and defrosting/cleaning can commence.  

Don't envy me my exciting life. 

All that to say, while I was shifting things around in my small freezer, I found some bluebonnet seeds I'd forgotten I even had!

I think I might get my little mini-greenhouse set up one afternoon this week and plant some of them.  Yes, I know you're supposed to plant them in September, but in September I didn't even remember that I had them.  I might try to grow them in pots this time around, since I can't seem to get a stand growing in my yard.  

I also found a bag of mixed fruit I'd bought to make smoothies with, so I made me one with my new immersion blender.  By the way, don't put too much into your cup or you'll be cleaning up a mess.  Ask me now I know. 

And finally, it has been chilly and rainy all day long, but we're about done with the cold for a while.  The local weather station has our lows in the 40s and highs in the 60s and even 70s some days.  Which reminds me, a few days ago, the parent company that owns the station had announce that they were going to lay off all of the local meteorologists from all their stations and replace them with a feed from The Weather Channel in Atlanta. 

This is absolutely the wrong part of the country not to have local weather coverage, and the people of North Mississippi raised such a hue and cry that the parent company backed off.  I hope that means they're keeping the local weather coverage for all their stations, too, but I don't know for sure.  

I do know that when the weather turns rough, the last thing you want is someone 500 miles away trying to walk you through it. 

We Had Issues

We had some issues, but we got there in the end.  To the Oxford Fiber Arts Festival, I mean.  

The issues started when...well, the issues really started last month when I put in for my vacation day, and the system kicked it out.  I talked to my supervisor and he told me to put it in again after the first of the year, and he'd approve it -- which he did. 

But the issues this morning started when I got into the car -- after arguing with the cat that she couldn't go outside until I got back, which she did not like -- and realized I'd forgotten to air my tires up.  They'd all gone down a bit when the cold spell hit, and I'd intended to do it yesterday, but completely forgot. 

No problem.  I'd just get my plug in air pump and fill them up real quick-like.  I got the front two done just fine, then attached the hose to the first of the rear tires when I heard a suspicious whooshing sound and noticed the air pressure was going down instead of up.  After checking, sure enough, the hose had broken. 

Not surprised, though.  That thing has to be 10 years old at least.  It's so old I don't even remember when I bought it.   And not to worry, I have a back-up.  I got one of those that plugs into the 12 volt thing in your car.  The only problem is that it takes for-ev-er to air a tire up.  I got that one tire done and decided the other one could wait until I got home.  

I tossed the pump back into the trunk and hit the road to Oxford.  I found the place where the festival was with no problem.  Alas, it took much longer to find a parking spot.  After circling around several times, I saw a woman getting into her car.  Yippee!  I'd just sit there and wait...and wait...and wait...and wait...

Then I saw couple getting into their car also, so I backed up a bit because I was blocking them in, and figured I'd just take whichever spot emptied first.  While I was waiting, another couple came out and got into their car, and wouldn't you know it they actually left first.  No matter.  I was finally able to park and went inside to find Christi waiting for me!

She'd already been around and seen everything, so I walked on and looked at all the lovely yarns and things. 

This lady was very interesting.  She's a marine scientist and spends a lot of time on research vessels.  In her spare time, she crochets stuff, then when she comes home, she sells it at craft fairs and such.  

If you zoom in, you might be able to read her little mini-bio on the table.  

They had even more vendors in the back room, which is where I found my friend Leann, who I didn't take picture of.  

She was a bit upset, because the recent cold had burst a water pipe at her shop, and she couldn't dye the colors she'd wanted to bring.  But she had plenty of yarn from other collections, so she still had stuff to sell.  

We visited a minute, then Christi's other friends Jane and Kate arrived, and we stepped across the street to Newk's and got a bite of lunch.  I got the "Q" sandwich, and it was sooo good.  After lunch, Christi and I said our goodbyes and left.  Yes, Amy we did miss you and hope you can make it next month.  

And of course, me being me, I missed the turn and had to circle back, but eventually I got onto the right road and it was home free from there. 

I'm sure you'll all be pleased to know, I only bought four skeins of yarn.  

Heh, when I bought those two on the right from Leann, she asked me if I wanted a receipt.  I said, "No, I don't want to be reminded of how much money I'm spending."  The lady behind me -- I have no idea who she was -- laughed and said, "Right!"  

I got another partial skein from the free-bees box for my charity hats, and that's it for yarn. 

The only other thing I got was a few more Purl Scouts badges.  

This is a nice festival if you just want to go and shop, but there is no place to just sit, knit, and visit like there is at Fiber Fun In The 'Sip.  By the way, I've already got my days off approved for that one, too.   I'm still debating on whether I want to go a day early and go through the battlefield again, and maybe some of the museums.  I'll have to decide soon, as I'll have to make a hotel reservation.  

And finally, this is the stuff Cyndye sent me.  

 It's called Renew.  I have no idea where Lumosity came from.  

I blame sleep deprivation.  Which wasn't a problem today, because I slept good last night.  

Let's hope that is the start of a trend. 

I Immersion Blended!

Yes, I did indeed use my new immersion blender today and it did fantastic! 

For those of you who don't know, I use sugar free Jell-O pudding mix with heavy whipping cream to make something like a mousse dessert.   Even if you don't have insulin resistance, I highly recommend it.  So this morning, I used my whisk attachment and my immersion blender and it turned out so smooth and creamy.  Much better than using the beaters on my regular mixer, and it had the added bonus of not having to drag the mixer out of the cabinet.  I can definitely see myself using it more often -- enough to make it worth the price, at least. 

In other news, the day did not start out well.  I woke up at 1:00 --  yes, you read that right-- and couldn't go back to sleep for anything.  I tried to lay in bed for a while, but as soon as the cat knew I was awake, and how figures that out is quite beyond me, she parked herself right outside the bedroom door and set up yowling and yowling and yowling.  

I got out of bed and let her in, thinking that would shut her up, but no.  She just jumped up onto the bed and set up yowling from there.  Along about 3:30, I came to the conclusion that there would be no more sleeping for me, so I got out of my nice warm bed, fed the cat, and built a fire.  

Yes, I made coffee, too, but that goes without saying. 

That reminds me of a funny story.  My sister got me one of those coffee pod holders for Christmas, so sometimes I like to close my eyes, spin the holder, and pick a flavor at random.  Well, one day this week, I spun it a bit too hard and flung my coffee pods all over the kitchen. 

All that to say, I've been up for a long, long time.  I hadn't really planned on doing anything today anyway, but my insomnia pretty much sealed the deal.  I did four loads of laundry and watched the new Gladiator II movie.  It was OK, but was essentially a re-hash of the first Gladiator movie, right down to the almost identical fight scenes.  I also caught up a bit on some of my YouTube subscriptions, and my Chicago shows.  

The bad news is, this recent cold spell and the resulting dry skin has made all of my fingertips split open again.  It's kind of limited what I can do, because it's so painful.  I haven't even wanted to practice my piano or knit, but I did make a bit of progress on the cowl. 

And yes, I've tried everything.   I've used O'Keefe's, CeraVe, Cornhusker's Lotion, Curel, and something my friend Cyndye sent me.  Lumosity or something like that.  Nothing helps.  Once the splits start, there is nothing for it but to wait for them to heal.  

The good news is we're in for a bit of a warming spell, even though right now it's colder here than it is in Fairbanks, where my sister lives. 

 That won't last long.  By Thursday, their high will be - 16.   There was once a time when I thought I wanted to live in Alaska.  Too many Jack London novels.  That's one prayer I'm really, really glad God said no to. 

That's all I have for now.  As I said, I've been awake since 1:00, and I've got a busy day tomorrow.  I'm going to get myself something to eat, then go to bed a bit early.  

Laters. 

Short Week, Long Day

This has been a short week for me, Monday being the holiday and all, and I have a vacation day put in for tomorrow so I can go up to that fiber festival in Oxford Saturday.  My friend Leann is vending, but unfortunately Amy can't make it.  Christi is thinking about it and I hope she thinks she's going to come.  It will be great to see them again. 

Even though the week was short, the days were so, so very long, and I'm not just talking about the 11 hour shifts.  It's the stress. It's that nobody can seem to make up their minds whether certain defects are acceptable or not.  It's that we sub-brazers are having to make judgement calls because nobody will give us a straight answer, and that if we make the wrong call, it's going to come back on us -- not the person who made the parts wrong to begin with.  It's that because we can't get a straight answer from anyone, we're having to reject about 30% of the adapter tubes we get from tubing, and there is no way we can keep up with the lines that way.  Not only that, but they want us -- the sub brazers -- to sort through all the adapter tubes and pick out the bad ones instead of management telling the machine operator to look at what she's doing and if the machine is messing up, then stop and get it fixed before running an entire order of bad parts.  

I can't work this way.  Neither can anybody else, really.  Why can't they see that?  I guess it's easier to drive your employees into the ground than to actually solve a problem out there. 

In a bit of better news,  I got me an immersion blender. 

 A month ago, I didn't even know what an immersion blender was. Then my sister put one on her Christmas wish list, and so I sent her one.  

Then last week when I made the pumpkin soup, the recipe said to use an immersion blender to puree the pumpkin and onion chunks.  Alas, I had no immersion blender, so I had to use the regular blender, which worked, but was a bit annoying. 

I decided then and there I was going to get an immersion blender.  And today I did just that. 

Now I have me an immersion blender, but I also got up at 2:30 this morning, so that means there will be no immersion blending tonight.  

Maybe tomorrow.

About That Cowl

Remember that cowl I've been working on?  Yeah, I only got about an inch or two further and decided I was done.  It was too long, and too skinny, and I just didn't like it.  I even pulled the needle out and pulled it on and that just put pain to it.  It was too tight and not comfortable to wear at all.  

Naturally, I did what any red blooded American would do.  I found the other end of the ball of yarn -- since I was so close to it anyway-- and cast on a new one.  

I thought about casting on 44 stiches, but I was afraid it would be too tight also, so I cast 48 stiches instead.  That was the same cast on with which I made the cowl for my friend's brother, so I think it will be good size.  My friend and her brother both loved the one I'd made him, so there is that. 

On a similar note, I've spent the last two days watching all of my friends back home posting snow pictures.  I'm a bit envious.  We didn't get a lick of snow, just mind numbing, bone chilling cold.  I did not want to get out of bed this morning, but alas, these bills won't pay themselves, so out into the cold I went. 

It was so cold, I snuck my insulated mug into the plant so my coffee would stay warmer a bit longer.  Shh, don't tell on  me. 

You know I'm talking to you.  

It was worth it.  It was so nice to be able to savor and sip my coffee instead of having to gulp it down before it gets cold -- or to just drink it cold, which is what I usually do.  I just wish they'd get as bent out of shape over the real problems this company faces as they do about what kind of cup I'm drinking out of.  

But then, solving the problems would show real strength and leadership.  There is none of that out there.  Real strength doesn't feel the need to dehumanize and humiliate its employees. 

And since we have no leadership, and have to work such long hours, expect blogging to be a bit sporadic for a while.  For now, I'm going to bed.  

After I practice my piano for a few minutes.  

Goodnight. 

Baby,

It's cold outside!  

And I don't want to hear it from any of you folks up north.  I know this is just another Monday to you, but remember, we aren't built for this.  But that's not the point.  

The point is, it's cold outside.  You want to know how cold?  The ice in the wildlife trough was this thick this afternoon.  

My hand included for scale.  

That photo was taken around 2:00 PM when I went out to scatter some corn for those animals that eat corn.  I don't judge.  This table is open to all who are cold and hungry.  

While I was out there, I took that chunk of ice and tossed it onto the ground, 

but I don't really know why, because it's just going to re-freeze once the sun goes down.  Today's high was 31, and when I got up this morning, the temp here was the same as it was in Fairbanks, Alaska where my sister lives. 

Why yes, I do have all my siblings' towns in my weather app.  Doesn't everybody?  But I had a nice, cheery fire crackling all day and a warm blanket to snuggle under while I was taking it easy today. 

OK, moving right along, my new knitting needles arrived yesterday, 

 and to be honest, I have mixed feelings about that.  While I was glad to have them without having to wait until Tuesday -- today being a holiday and all-- I don't really like that mail is being delivered on Sundays now.  Not having mail delivery on the Lord's Day was our government's last concession to our Judeo-Christian heritage, and now even that is gone. 

But since I had them, I went ahead and cast on another cowl, and have gotten this far while watching the Inauguration. 

Again, I'm not using a pattern, just winging it.  I'd found a pattern somewhere that called for a 40 stitch cast on, only now I can't find it again.  Still, that's what I went with.  I debated on how long to make it, and almost bound off after 8", but decided to go ahead and knit up the whole skein and see how long it ends up being.  

Plus, if it grows in width like the last one did, it'll likely shorten a bit in length.  If it ends up being too long and skinny, I might go back with the 48 stitch cast on that I used in the one I'd made for my friend's brother.  We'll just have to wait and see. 

And finally, I've spent most of the day watching Inauguration coverage, and this is only the second time I've been able to see it live.  Usually I'm at work, and have to watch on YouTube after the fact.  Me, I think it should be a mandatory national holiday so all Americans can watch.  

I'm going to have to go to bed soon, though, because they have us coming in at 4:00 again.  They do everything in the world to make our jobs harder and more labor intensive, then wonder why we can't keep up.  So they just make us work longer and longer hours...

I can't wait to get out of there. 

Short Break

After a short break, I'm back here blogging all the dullness of my life for you.  I know you're all thrilled.  

I don't know what it was.  Maybe it's getting back into the swing of working.  Maybe it's the weather.  Maybe it's as I mentioned earlier, my life is just dull.  Whatever the reason, I needed a break.  But now, I'm back to bore you once more.  

In the midst of my blogging break, I finished the first charity hat of the year.  This one is for the Seaman's Church Institute. 

This was knit with that Red Heart granny square yarn, and I like the way it striped up.  I may make a few more out of this type of yarn, even after I use up this skein.  

Speaking of using up skeins, a few years ago, I bought some yarn from a company in Canada called Ravenswood Fibers.   They have some really gorgeous colors, but I didn't like the yarn itself so much.   I thought it was loosely spun, frayed in spots, and quite splitty.  

Anyway, I'd knit a beret from one of the skeins and gave it as a Christmas gift.  It only used up half of the hank, so I cast on what was supposed to be a cowl with the rest of it.  After I'd finished, I didn't like the result.  I even posted that I didn't like the result, but that I wasn't going to re-do it. 

I'd let it sit for a while, and find someone who would appreciate it.  However, after three years in the gift drawer, I still didn't like it and decided to do something about it. Yesterday, I got it out and sent the whole thing to the frog pond, and let the yarn soak in a big bowl of water

until the kinks relaxed.  

Then I squeeze the water out, rolled it in a towel, and now it's hanging over my shower curtain drying.  I don't know what I'm going to do with it yet.  It's just under 200 yards, so that kind of limits my options.  I'd thought I'd do one of my hats, but I'm sure that won't be enough.  Maybe I can find a headband pattern or something.  Or a 4 X 4 ribbed cowl.  I don't know.  I'll figure something out. 

In the meantime, work on my Jazz Rhapsody hat is still ongoing. 

I really hate that moths got to this yarn, because it's knitting up so pretty.  I've had to make several more joins because of those moths, but I'll eventually get it finished, and it'll be all the more beautiful for its flaws.

In other news, I finally got around to hanging my painting back up over my entertainment center. 

For those of you who don't know the story, one of the teachers at my elementary school took up painting after she retired.  Before she died, she gave this one to my cousin with the instruction that it was for me.  It has been hanging in my living room ever since, except for when I take it down to put out my fall, then Christmas decorations. 

As far as the weather goes, we hit our high of 56° right around noonish, and the temps have been steadily dropping ever since.  The coldest temps won't hit until tomorrow night, but since I was up and about today, I  went ahead and wrapped my outside faucet and stuck a bucket over it. 

I've got one of those Styrofoam blocks to put over the one on the South side of the house, but this one on the North side is a double faucet, and those things don't fit.  Thus, I had to redneck it.  Hey, whatever works. 

I had planned on moving all my food back into the deep freezer then covering it all with jugs of water just in case the power went out, but when the models started moving away from us having any accumulation, I changed my mind.  I mean, we do have the possibility of light snow and a little bit of accumulation, but the worst of it will be well to the south of us.  They're predicting up to 5" of snow down on the coast, but nothing here.  Well, nothing to speak of, that is.   

Anyway, thinking of the cold that is to come, yesterday at work, I got a hankering for pumpkin soup.  I'd found an can of pumpkin puree in the pantry that I'd forgotten I had, and was trying to figure out what to do with it.  Yes, I considered a pie, but I still have pie in the freezer from Thanksgiving -- that I keep forgetting about, so that idea got shelved.  Then the idea of pumpkin soup came to me.  

After work, I checked online for a recipe because I'd already been to the store this week and didn't want to go back, and wonder of wonders I already had all the ingredients except for heavy cream.  Next step was to look up substitutes for that, and evaporated milk was one of them.  I have some at home, so no extra trip to the store for me.  Yay. 

I was going to make the soup today, but had to eat up the gumbo first.  Not a problem.  I had the last bowl for supper tonight, so tomorrow I'll make the pumpkin soup.  

I guess that's all the dullness I have to bore you with tonight, so I'll end this and go watch football.  And knit some more.   And maybe look for a pattern I can use that yarn with. 

Laters. 

It Grew

Yesterday I wore my new cowl to work, and let me tell you, it grew quite a bit.   I mean, it really grew.  Wide, not long.  So much so, I might as well not have been wearing it at all.   I decided then and there that if I were going to knit some as gifts, I really needed to use the correct needles and the correct number of cast on stitches-- which is a 40 stitch cast on using size 13 needles.    

As soon as I got home, I dug through my needles looking desperately for some size 13s, but nope.  I found plenty of 11s and plenty of 15s, but no 13s.  Naturally, I did what any red blooded American would do.  I jumped online and ordered some.  I went to Knit Picks first, but they didn't have any DPNs that big, so I went to Amazon and ordered some there.   They had some 8" Clover bamboo needles, and that's a pretty good brand, so I'm OK with that.  

They're supposed to get here Sunday, but usually that means Monday, which this week will mean Tuesday since Monday is a holiday.  In the meantime, I ripped this hat back to the ribbing and started over from there. 

 But why would I do that?  Because about an inch into the body, I realized I hadn't switched to my larger needles, and the resulting fabric was pretty stiff.   No biggy, and I'm already past where I was when I decided to frog it.  I still like the way it's striping up, too. 

I'm still progressing on my latest sock yarn hat, as well. 

Oh, and my coworker told me her brother loved his cowl.  He's dealing with some health issues, which I'm not going to talk about because it's not my place to share his personal information, and the nurse told him to wear a scarf to keep his neck warm, which will help with his pain.  My coworker said, "I've got you."  And that, Gentle Reader, is why I do it. 

By the way, we're expecting another winter storm early next week.  The models keep waffling on whether we'll have any form of precipitation or not, but all the meteorologists are in agreement that we will be having what they refer to as pipe busting cold.  Now is the time to prepare.  Go get that milk and bread.  Can't have a winter storm without your milk sandwiches!  

I know this is short, but morning came early today, and I still have to practice my piano.  

Good night.  

Saturday

All day yesterday it felt like Saturday to me, I guess because I didn't have to work and there was college football on the TV.  I don't really know.  All I know is that it felt like Saturday.  I even got up and did all my Saturday chores.  

Now, today feels like Sunday -- because my Saturday chores were already done and there is NFL on the TV.   I have no idea what tomorrow will feel like.  I do know I slept until 7:00 this morning, and it felt wonderful.  Of course, I stayed up to watch the Texas vs Ohio State game, and as I predicted, Texas lost.  I'd said last week that they were going to have to play a whole lot better than they have been if they wanted to beat Ohio ST, but they didn't.     

OK, moving right along.  I finished my cowl for myself and I think it turned out really nice.  

I got up this morning and washed it, so hopefully it'll be dry by Monday.  Tuesday at the latest.  Then I cast on with my Granny Square yarn and it's striping up really nicely.  

I should be able to get three hats out of this skein, maybe four.  It's about time I got started knitting hats for the Seaman's Church Institute again.  I've been so caught up in knitting the ones out of sock yarn, I haven't done any for charity in several weeks.  

By the way, just for fun, I asked X's AI thing Grok to draw me, and this is what it thinks I look like. 

Apparently, Grok thinks I love Christmas and knitting.  It's not wrong.  By the way, the T-shirt comes from my profile picture.  I'd intended to order one years ago, but never got around to it. 

In other news, while I was putting the card table away yesterday, I found a mysterious project bag in that particular closet.  Curious, I pulled it out and found my dinosaurnaments!  They're supposed to be Christmas tree ornaments, and they've been marinating a long, long time. 

I bought these some 25 years ago, I think.  I'm not really sure, because it was before I started blogging.  I'd worked on them off and on over the years and finished them in 2016, except for the backstitching and cutting them out.  Maybe this time, I'll finally get them done.   I'll let you know. 

That's about it for today, unless you want to hear about me emptying out my deep freeze so I can get it defrosted and cleaned out really good.  I'm trying to move as much as I can to the small freezer and eat up what I already have instead of buying a bunch of new food.  I found a couple of what I believe to be turkey breasts or chicken breasts, and made a huge bowl of poultry salad.  I also found some of the gumbo Cody made in 2022, and ate some of that this afternoon.  

I've gotten a lot of the food food out, and most of what is left is snake food.  I'll have to find a big cooler to put that in, because Cody and Brennan took my cooler at Thanksgiving, then my grand-cat Finley claimed it as his bed.  I found I still have an inordinate amount of rats for Slider -- much more than he can eat in his lifespan.  He is 20 years old, and only eats 4 times per year, or less if he's being picky.  I don't know why I have so many.  I can only guess that they got buried under other food and I assumed I was out and ordered more, when I really just needed to dig deeper.  

OK, well I guess I'll stop boring you with the contents of my deep freeze and say goodnight for now.  

Good night. 

Snowpocalypse 2025

The long anticipated snowpocalypse  blew through last night, and as I expected, we didn't get anything but sleet and freezing rain.  They got a good snow as close as Batesville, but in all fairness, we were on the very southern edge of the warned area, so it could have gone either way.  Plus, that weird geographical thing that protects us from the severe weather also keeps snow from getting here.  

The last really good snow I remember was back in 2011.  That was when Cody built his snowman Sned.  

That was also the year we had that really bad tornado outbreak the following April -- 349 tornadoes over a three day span, including an EF-5 that hit Smithville, MS.  Makes me wonder if the two were somehow related...

But I digress...

As I said, all we got was sleet and freezing rain, but as the temps barely got down to freezing in the first place, there was basically no accumulation.  Just a slushy mess in my back yard. 

And I realized as I trudged out to the shed in an old pair of house shoes to get another armload of firewood, I probably ought to get a new pair of rubber boots.   I tossed the old pair when the rubber began to split, but I'd had them for several years, so I got my money's worth out of them. 

So what did I do while I was sitting in front of my toasty fire?  I'll give you two guesses.  If you say watch TV and knit, give yourself a cookie, because that's exactly what I did.  I made a good start on my cowl, and should be done by tomorrow. 

I like the way it's knitting up, and think maybe my sister and sister in laws might just get one for Christmas next year.  I'll have to ask Cody if he thinks Brennan would wear one.  If so, she'll get one, too. 

And finally, the last thing I did today -- unless you really want to hear about my laundry and housecleaning -- was to finally take my Christmas tablecloth off of my card table and put the table back into the closet.  

I guess Christmas is over for real now.  

Until next year...

Winter Is Coming

Winter is coming.  This weekend, at that.  They're still predicting wintry mix, but without significant accumulation.  Still, I have a bill that is due Friday -- right in the middle of all that mess -- so I took the better part of valor and ran into town and paid it today.

Since I was already in town, I decided to go ahead and go to Walmart and get my shopping done.  I didn't really need a lot, but ironically enough, I needed milk.  So I go to the milk cooler and there is this man there.  He's already got a gallon in his buggy, then he puts about 10 of the little pint bottles of milk, and about 10 more pints of chocolate milk.  

I'm waiting patiently behind him for him to be done, whereupon he turns around and sees me there.  He apologizes, saying, "Sorry about that!'' Apparently he is a Door Dasher or something similar and was filling a client's order, and the client wanted all that milk.  

"There is a winter storm coming.  You got to get the milk and bread!" I quipped.  He laughed and said, "They're going to eat those milk sandwiches!"  

I continued with my shopping, and got to the bread aisle-- which is where the coffee is.  It was almost devoid of bread, so I guess it's a good thing I didn't need any.  What I needed was coffee.  I know I've got all of that Victor Allen's coffee, but I wanted some Hazelnut cappuccino pods, because sometimes I like a good cappuccino.  I eased my way through the throngs of of people grabbing the last of the bread, and found my coffee.  Then I helped a lady with an oxygen tank find the coffee filters she needed and decided that was about enough shopping for one day. 

I went to the checkout, and was patiently waiting my turn when the lady in front of me called to me and warned me that her rotisserie chicken had leaked and be careful not to slip on the grease on the floor.  I thanked her and tried to ease my buggy around the puddle, knocking a box of candy to the floor as I did so.  Immediately, the man in line behind me said, "I got it!" and picked the box up, putting it back onto the shelf.  I thanked him, saying I'd been trying to avoid the grease on the floor.  

I managed to check out without further incident, then came on home, filled my bird feeders and lit a fire which proved to be very stubborn, but in the end, I prevailed and it's now merrily crackling away in the wood stove. 

And that was my day.  How was yours?  

All that to say, I liked the cowl I knit for my friend's brother so much that before all of the above went on, I went down the yarn aisle and bought another skein of Wool Ease to knit myself one.  I chose a different color, though.  This one is called Carousel.  

It's got a slightly softer, more feminine look than what I'd bought for my friend's brother.  By the way, she told me she was going to give it to him next week for his birthday, but she'd tried it on first and said, "Oooh, I like this!"  

On a similar note, a while back, Red Heart came out with this yarn that was dyed specifically to produce multi colored granny squares without having to change yarn several times.  Ever since I first heard of it, I'd been looking for some.  I don't do granny squares -- that's crochet, but I had wondered what it would look like knit up as a hat.  Today, I finally found some.  Naturally, I bought it.  

They had several colorways, and I chose this one, called Soft White - Frigid.  Heh, when I picked it out,  I chose it for the blue and white colors.  I didn't even know what it was named.  That was just a coincidence, but it is fitting for the weekend we're expecting. 

I need to get back to knitting my charity hats anyway, so that'll be a good project while I'm iced/snowed/winterymixed in.  Which shouldn't last too long, since the temps by Saturday are supposed to be back up into the 40s.  

And finally, I got me a new toy. 

It's an electric melter for my sealing wax.  I haven't used it yet, but I figure it'll be good when I just need one or two seals.  Some of the reviews say it takes a long time to melt the beads, but it can't be any longer than holding the spoon over a candle.  Now, I just need a few more pen pals. 

And finally, tomorrow is inventory at work, so I don't have to go in until 7:00.  I told Group Leader Shark it just feels wrong not to be going in at 5:00.   Usually, they have a card writer class the day before inventory, so this morning, I asked GLS what time it was with the intention of asking how much trouble I would be in if I skipped it.  She said, "It was yesterday."  Oops.

Well, nobody's tarred and feathered me yet, so I must not be in too much trouble.  

Not really my fault, though, because nobody tells us anything any more.  Back in the day, they'd make copies of the list of people working, along with the schedule and instructions, and everything you'd need to know and they'd hand it out to everyone working inventory several days ahead of time.  Not only that, they'd have the list of who was working posted in several locations around the plant.  Everyone knew who was working, and everyone who was working knew what to do, and when to do it.  

They don't do that any more. 

Nobody, and I do mean nobody, told anyone when the card writer's class would be.  Not that I need it.  I've been doing inventory since the late 1900s, so I pretty much have it down.  Even so, I went and asked one of the other card writers if he had gone, and he said nobody told him, either.  He was getting ready to leave yesterday when another employee came to his work station and was just standing there.  He asked her if she needed something, and she told him, "We have to go to the card writer's class."  If she hadn't come and gotten him, he wouldn't have gone, either. 

As I said, it's no big deal, because all they do is stand up there and read the instructions that they will hand out to every card writer tomorrow morning anyway.  But still, it beats the heck out of me why they can't just tell us what is going on, and what they want us to do.  Then they yell at us for not doing what they never told us to do in the first place.

I guess that's better than them yelling at us for doing what they told us to do, then decided after the fact that we shouldn't have done it.  What they told us to do...

But that's another post for another day.  This one is already long enough. 

And I need to practice my piano.  

Laters.