We Didn’t Get Any

We didn't get any rain yesterday evening, so I'm going to have to wait a bit to see how my garden spot settles.  No matter.  It'll rain plenty before it's all over, and I've always said this will be a multi year project anyway.  

Even so, it turned out to be an absolutely gorgeous day today, and I've been able to keep my windows open all day to get some fresh air into this house.  The bad news is, my sparkly yarn hasn't arrived yet, so I haven't been able to work on my Christmas project while watching football.  I'm not worried, as sometimes the mail on Saturdays arrives relatively late in the day.  

In the meantime, I've finished another sailor hat. 

Yarn:  Hobby Lobby I Love This  Yarn

Colorway: Sunset

Pattern: Basic Beanie

Needles:  US 8

I haven't cast on another one yet, but I will soon.  I've already passed up the total number of hats I sent off for this year's Christmas At Sea, so I'm stoked about that. However, I did something some of you will consider to be unthinkable.  

Remember that set of yarn minis I'd bought at FFITS that I'd agonized so much over and finally cast on with?  Yeah, I ripped that whole thing out.  

Mine just wasn't turning out the way the sample hat I'd seen at FFITS looked, and I wasn't happy with it.  I think it's kind of a bummer that she didn't have a pattern for her hat, if she's going to have one on display.  Anyway, I think she was doubling the yarn, so that's what I'm going to try when I cast it back on.  For now, I cast on another one with the yarn I'd caked up a while back. 

Yarn: Euphora Knits

Colorway:  I don't know, the label is illegible.  It looks like KoHerKo River or KuHaKu River

Pattern:  Sockhead Hat, by Boho Knits

Needles:  US 2.5 or 3mm

In other news, my first bud has opened on my Christmas cactus!

Do you see that little branch to the lower right that looks dead?  Yeah, I thought it was, too, so I pulled it up with the intention of composting it.  But when I did, I saw that it still had a couple of little roots, so I put it into some water to see if it will come back. 

If it does, I'll re-plant it, and if it doesn't, it'll go into the compost as I'd originally intended.  

I was pleasantly surprised to see so many buds on this one, too. 

This poor baby has absolutely been through the wringer, and has somehow survived it all.    

The only other thing on my list that I managed to get done was to boil my sweet potatoes down. 

I wanted to go ahead and do it to see if I'd bought enough for both a casserole and a pie.  I still have to mash and measure them, but right now I'm waiting for them to cool.  If I don't have enough, I'll have time to go buy some more.   

While I was in the kitchen, I also cut up my celery.  

I tried to take an artsy-fartsy photo, but I'm not too sure how that worked out.  I miss having a DSLR camera, but that's another topic for another day. 

After I finished, I remembered reading somewhere that you can stick the remnants of your celery into the ground and it'll grow.  I don't know how true that is, but what could it hurt to try, and celery is part of the Trinity after all.  So, I took it out and stuck it into one of my garden beds. 

If it grows, great!  If it doesn't, I'll pull it up and put it into the compost.  

Speaking of, I've got three beds ready to be planted, 

 and I'm seriously considering doing just that.  

After tomorrow night's freeze, it's supposed to warm back up for at least a week.  Since my lemon balm is used to being outside in the planter anyway, if I'm careful not to disturb the roots too much, it ought to be OK.  Do you think so?  

Also, I have a sage plant I was going to put up into that corner bed, where the fence meets the house.  It's used to being outside as well.  I think I'm going to try it.    

Wish me luck.

Paid My Fees

Today would have been a lovely day to sit in the house and do nothing all day.  Alas, that was not to be, as I had to go into town and pay the tax collector for the privilege of driving on the roads in my state. 

In other words, I had to renew my license plates.  And drop off a few books to the Little Free Library while I was on the Square. 

On my way into town, I stopped off at the Chakchiuma Swamp in the Lee Tartt Nature Preserve to see the new stuff they've added since I was last there.   I'd seen a post on their FB page about it and wanted to check it out for myself.  

There is a nice educational sign, 

and on the other side are QR codes you can scan to reserve a canoe or kayak, identify bird calls, or connect with other fans of the swamp on their website.  

Just beyond the sign is a nice little elevated boardwalk, 

which leads to a deck with benches where you can sit

and look at the swamp.  

For the more adventurous amongst you, there are death stairs on the other side of the deck. 

Watch that first step.  It's a doozy! 

Seriously, though, I think that's for getting into and out of your canoes and kayaks when the swamp actually has water in it.  It's pretty dry right now.  

I sat there for a while, then finished walking the trails, paid my respects to the Old Man Of The Swamp, 

and went back to my car.  Only I didn't make it.  To the car. 

I decided to walk the River loop and pick up a Pokémon Go route badge.  I seem to have forgotten how to work the thing, because once again, it didn't give me credit for walking the route.  I thought about going around again, but realized the time was moving along and I still had my errands to run.  And I decided that since I was already in town, I might as well get my shopping done while I was there.  

So I did.  

Walking around the store, looking at my Thanksgiving shopping list, knowing I didn't need to buy any of that stuff now...it was a bit discombobulating.  Part of me wanted to rebel and buy it all anyway -- I'm going to cook my Thanksgiving dinner already by golly!-- but I talked myself down from that ledge.  Cody and Brennan want to host, and I need to let them.  

I'm still going to make some casseroles, and I was thinking I can cook all of the rest of it for Christmas.  The kids may or may not show up for that, but I can still have a nice dinner for myself.  

I know I said I was going to cut back on my spending, but I couldn't pass up this little cocotte.  

It was marked down from $7 to $4, and it seemed like a pretty good deal.   I also bought more ornaments to put into my decoration thing.  

My sparkly silver yarn is supposed to arrive tomorrow, so maybe I can start putting this together while watching the ball games.  

Since we have a chance of rain this evening, once I got home I wanted to work just a bit more in the garden spot.  Guess what I found growing there?  

If you said even more spider lilies, give yourself a cookie.  This slab is 8' x 8' --ish-- and this is how many spider lily bulbs I've dug up this fall. 

I'm going to let them dry out a bit, then probably burn them in the fire pit.  If any local folks want some, you're welcome to come by and get them before I burn 'em.  

Other than digging up stray bulbs,  I don't plan on doing any more digging in the garden spot.  I'm just going to use my push/pull hoe to scrape the high spots down, and my dirt rake to move the dirt into the low spots. 

It's looking pretty good, but I want to see how this latest round of rain is going to settle things before I do any more to it. 

At this point, what with a hard freeze being expected in just a couple of days, it's too late to transplant anything this year, so I'll have until spring to get it all the way I want it. 

Using my mini chainsaw -- with proper PPE this time -- I was able to get that crepe myrtle stump mostly out, though I couldn't get all of the roots.  

Still, I was able to cut it down low enough it shouldn't interfere with my raised beds.  Unlike this Incarnation Of Evil...

I reckon I ought to go ahead and put that plastic barrier stuff down...later.  For now, I'm heading back to the swamp

 even if it's only in my mind...

I Hadn’t Planned

I hadn't planned on doing any more digging in my garden spot.  Or tilling for that matter.  All I was going to do was use the hoe to scrape down some of the high spots and move that dirt into the lower spots.  

Alas, when I got out there this afternoon, what did I see but ...yes, more spider lilies growing.  Sigh...I had to dig after all. 

Not only that, as I was digging up the bulbs near the house, I ran across the old crepe myrtle stump he was also supposed to dig out.  I know it's hard to see in this photo, but it's there.  

 What did I even pay this guy for?  

I tried to dig that old stump out, but I'm going to have to cut the roots before I can get it up.  I think if I can dig the dirt from around them, I can cut those roots with my mini chainsaw.  And I'll be sure to wear my kevlar sleeves this time.  

The last one healed up nicely, with only a little bitty scar to mark the spot where I'd once tried to cut my arm off, but why take chances. 

In other news, Cody messaged me this afternoon and said that due to Brennan's work schedule, they want to host Thanksgiving at their house this year.  After my initial NO DON'T MAKE ME LEAVE THE HOUSE moment, I thought it might be a nice break for me not to do all of the cooking.  

On the other hand, Thanksgiving is the only time I really cook any more, so I do tend to go all out, and I kind of enjoy it.  But I'll still be making the broccoli and sweet potato casseroles, and maybe a pie, so I'll have some cooking to do.  

The plan is for me to drive down Wednesday, so I won't be so rushed Thursday morning.  Since the Cowboys have the late game, I might stay Thursday as well, and come back Friday morning. 

Well, with all of that excitement, I completely forgot what I had originally planned to blog about, so I'll just leave it at this and go knit a bit. 

Laters. 

About Last Night

I remember one time when I was about five or six years old, my mother was putting me to bed.  I asked her, "How do you go to sleep?"

"You just lay down and close your eyes, and go to sleep,"  my mother replied. 

"But how?"  I asked.  "How do you go to sleep?"

I never did figure that out.  Even as a child, I'd lay in bed for hours with my eyes closed and not go to sleep.  I still do it.  

I was doing it last night at 2:00 AM ish, and that memory immediately sprang to mind.   Lots of other things sprang to mind, as well, but I really felt like I needed to re-run this for those folks up in New York City.  All of the photos in this post were taken my yours truly in the local Walmart back during COVID.  

This will be NYC soon.  And no, you better not move down here.  You voted for this mess.  You stay there and live in it. 

 The Gods Of The Copybook Headings

As I pass through my incarnations in every age and race

I Make my proper prostrations to the Gods of the Market-Place

Peering through reverent fingers I watch them flourish and fall,

And the Gods of the Copybook Headings, I notice, outlast them all.

We were living in trees when they met us. They showed us each in turn

That Water would certainly wet us, as Fire would certainly burn:

But we found them lacking in Uplift, Vision and Breadth of Mind,

So we left them to teach the Gorillas while we followed the March of Mankind

We moved as the Spirit listed. They never altered their pace,

Being neither cloud nor wind-borne like the Gods of the Market-Place.

But they always caught up with our progress, and presently word would come

That a tribe had been wiped off its icefield, or the lights had gone out in Rome.

With the Hopes that our World is build on they were utterly out of touch

They denied that the Moon was Stilton; they denied she was even Dutch

They denied that Wishes were Horses; they denied that a Pig had Wings.

So we worshipped the Gods of the Market Who promised these beautiful things.

When the Cambrian measures were forming, They promised perpetual peace.

They swore, if we gave them our weapons, that the wars of the tribes would cease.

But when we disarmed They sold us and delivered us bound to our foe,

And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said:  "Stick to the Devil you know." 

On the first Feminian Sandstones we were promised the Fuller Life

(Which started by loving our neighbor and ended by loving his wife)

Till our women had no more children and the men lost reason and faith,

And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: "The Wages of Sin is Death." 

In the Carboniferous Epoch we were promised abundance for all,

By robbing selected Peter to pay for collective Paul;

But though we had plenty of money, there was nothing our money could buy,

And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: "If you don't work, you die."

Then the Gods of the Market tumbled, and their smoothed-tongued wizards withdrew,

And the hearts of the meanest were humbled and began to believe it was true

That All is not Gold that Glitters, and Two and Two make Four--

And the Gods of the Copybook Headings limped up to explain it once more. 

As it will be in the future, it was at the birth of Man--

There are only four things certain since Social Progress began--

That the Dog returns to his Vomit and the Sow returns to her Mire,

And the burnt Fool's bandaged finger goes wabbling back to the Fire--

And that after this is accomplished, and the brave new world begins

When all men are paid for existing and no man must pay for his sins

As surely as Water will wet us, as surely as Fire will burn

The Gods of the Copybook Headings, with terror and slaughter return!

Rudyard Kipling

 *Note:  all photos taken at the local Walmart within the last two weeks. 

            

Mandatory Fun

My new ladder is here!  

I got the stabilizer bars put in, but I didn't really do anything else with it today.  I didn't even install the tool tray.  

I'll probably play with it some more this weekend, but today, I just wasn't feeling it, so I just tucked it safely into the shed for now.  I think it's because we had our tailgate party at work, and yes, it was mandatory.  If you didn't want to attend, you'd get half a point.  

The good thing was it had warmed up to a nice 72°.  The bad thing is there was no shade.  They'd put up a few tent things, but not enough for everyone.  Quite a few of us had to stand our in the bald sun.  Even worse, they had everything set up so that we had to look into the sun to see anything.  I still have a massive headache from sun squint.  It's beginning to ease a bit, but it's there.  

Anyway, the line was long and the burgers were OK, but not great.  It was kind of a hoot seeing our new Big Man Up Front Who Still Doesn't Have A Blog Nickname out there grilling, but that's neither here nor there. 

After they fed us, they had a dance off -- which a white chick won.  Who says white people can't dance?  They had a karaoke contest, and as is typical, none of the women who participated could sing, but hey, they got up there and had a good time.  No men participated in either contest.  I videoed the dance contest, but it was a bit spicy, so I won't upload it to the blog.  If you're interested, you can watch it on my YouTube.  

They gave away prizes, but I didn't win anything this time.  I'm not complaining.  I won something at the picnic last year.  Come to think of it, I've won a lot of stuff at company events over the years, so it's nice to see other people having the same luck. 

On a similar note, they posted yesterday that we will be working four days a week for the rest of the year -- and those are 8 hour days, not 10.

Bwa ha ha ha!  They laughed at me for saving my vacation days.  Well, who's laughing now?  Heh, one of my fellow brazers said, "We're going to be staying home with you now!"  So, I'm going to ask them all what they're going to do on their days off. 

That's about all I have for today.  Except for this:    

One of my friends posted that as an idea for Christmas gifts.  It's a mug with a fuzzy sock rolled up in it, chap stick, a straw, and a candy cane.  Isn't it the cutest thing?  

My first inclination was to make some for my coworkers, but last time I did that -- make something for coworkers -- I thought I was going to get beat up.  Not taking that chance again.  

Piano

I know it's not quite the end of the year, but I wanted to talk about one of my goals for the year, which was to finish my Alfred's level 2 course book.  As you can see, I got close, but didn't quite get there. 

I got pretty close, but the songs at this level are more difficult and take longer to learn.  But that's just part of it.  I think this funk I've been in all year has affected my playing -- as in, there were too many days that I just didn't feel like practicing, so I'd just go over the songs once and call it a day.  Maybe things will pick up next year, but for now, I'm setting that aside and just playing Christmas music for the time being. 

I think I need to play for fun for a while, so that's what I'm going to do, play Christmas music and hymns and such.  

I keep saying I'm going to record a Christmas concert for you.  It's been such a long time since I have posted any music, but there seems to be some strange disconnect between my hands and hitting the record button on my phone.  Heh, one of the online piano tutors I follow made a video of this very topic.  It's a short, and I couldn't figure out how to embed it, so you'll have to go here to watch it:  Jazer Lee.  

I had to laugh when I watched it, because it is so me.  While you're there, watch some of his other shorts. I mean, he absolutely nails it!  I feel seen.  

Not much else to talk about today, because all I did was watch cheezy Christmas movies, Chosen roundtables and aftershows (you have to watch those in the free app, but you can watch the show on Prime), and knit.  

I finished this hat. 

Yarn: Red Heart Supersaver

Colorway: Neon Stripe

Pattern: Basic Beanie

Needles:   US 8

And I cast on a new one.  

Yarn:  Hobby Lobby I Love This  Yarn

Colorway:  Sunset

Pattern: Basic Beanie

Needles:  US 8

And finally, I forgot to tell you.  When I was at Walmart yesterday, I dug through the pallet of garden soil and found a couple of bags that weren't too terribly busted open, so I bought them.  It's supposed to be pretty dry this week, so maybe I can get out and work in my garden spot some.  Since I don't plan on tilling the dirt up any more, it ought to settle in pretty good, and I won't have to worry about it getting all mucky.  I still need to shave off some spots and fill in others, but the major overhauling is done.  

I'm tempted to cash in my Ibotta savings and get three more of the  8' x 2' beds.  Or maybe just two for now, and put them into the opposite corner.  That ought to be enough for me to see where I want to put my 4' x 4' beds.  I feel like once I at least get the beds in place, the serious planning can begin -- even if I have to wait until spring to get started with the serious planting.  Heh, get it?  

OK, never mind...  

By the way, that dadgum cat of mine has decided those beds are her new litter pans.  Once I get my herbs planted and mulched, she ought to stay out of them, especially since I got that plastic stuff to put down.  Eh, I'll show you when I do it. 

Speaking of Ibotta, they're really screwing us up this Thanksgiving.  Ever since I've been using the app, they've been giving out free Thanksgiving dinners.  I'm sure they'll still have some free stuff, but to get the turkey, I have to get someone else to sign up and redeem an offer using my referral code:  lypnolp.  If I don't get someone to start using the app, I don't get the turkey.  

Bummer.  I just don't feel like I should have to depend on someone else doing something for me to be able to redeem an offer.  But for what it's worth, Ibotta is really the only rebate app that's worth the trouble.  Every other app I'm using, I've earned $100 or less -- mostly less -- in the last 6 years since I started.  In Ibotta, I've earned nearly $1500.  Yep, you read that right.  One thousand five hundred dollars. 

If you want to give it a go, please use my referral code.  If not, I won't fault you for it. 

And finally -- for real this time-- if you're reading this, please leave me a comment, either here or on whatever social media you find this link on.  Sometimes I really do feel like I'm just talking to myself.  It would be nice to know you're listening.  Or reading, rather. 

Whatever...

Settled In

After I blogged yesterday, I went ahead and cleaned (ish) my plant shelf off and got my Christmas Cactus all settled in for the winter.  

And yes, I know technically they're Thanksgiving Cacti, and there's a teeny tiny difference between the two, but they're all commonly called Christmas cactus, and so that's what I'm going to call mine.   They are both Schlumbergera.  

After I finished doing that, it was such a nice day outside, I went and sat by the fire pit for a little while. 

I only made a small fire with twigs and such that had been knocked down by the wind during Wednesday's storms.  Or Tuesday night's storms.  Whenever they came through.  Still, it was nice while it lasted.  I even had an audience for a little bit.  

It's not the greatest photo, but there are four of them out there, keeping an eye on me.  Also, I took the covers off of my Adirondack chairs.  It seemed a good idea at the time, but having them covered ...well, they just aren't as inviting this way.  I'll leave them off probably until it gets too hot to sit outside.  Or too buggy.  Or both.  

I'll run out and put them back on if we're expecting ice -- or in the rare event we have snow, but for now, I want to see the chair and spontaneously decide to sit in it.  Covers inhibit that.  

By the way, did any of you get to see that comet?  I tried several times, but I never saw this one.  Not complaining too much, though, because I saw the one last year really well. 

Anyway, since I'd moved the Christmas cacti off of the wood stove, I got up this morning and started a little fire in the box. 

It was nice and toasty.  I sure hope my coworker's son comes through with the firewood, because I do enjoy a nice fire.  Of course, it didn't take long for it to warm up enough that I let the fire go out, and was able to open some windows and let fresh air into the house.  That was nice, too, but I digress...

While I was in town this morning, I bought one of those sweeping logs, 

but when I got home and read the instructions, it said not to use it for the first fire of the year.  You're supposed to have two or three fires before lighting the CSL.  I brought up more wood for a fire tomorrow, because we've got another front coming through -- but this one isn't supposed to bring as much rain as the last one, at least not where I live.  Then probably Monday or Tuesday, I'll light it.  

Oh, and I should probably tell you I didn't go walking out at the lake this morning.  I was trying to figure out how I did it last year -- going walking, then shopping, and still getting home in time for the 11:00 football games.  About halfway to the store, I remembered.  

I went shopping on Thursdays last year.  I'm actually thinking about going back to that schedule so I can go walking on Saturday mornings.  For today, walking around Walmart had to be enough.

So, I didn't go walking but I did get up and put out my few Thanksgiving specific decorations.  

I usually put them out with the rest of my Fall decor, but this year for some reason, I held them back until after Halloween.  And this one, I usually put in the car port, but moved it to the front porch.

You can see it a lot better there.  I checked the clearance aisle at Walmart to see if there was anything good on sale, but didn't find anything I just had to have.  I found some inflatable turkeys on Amazon, but I'm still debating whether I actually want to buy one or not.  I really need to cut back my spending until overtime starts up again.  

On the other hand, I bought these.  

I'd seen this online a couple of years ago, and really want to try to make one. 

I'm going to pick up some smaller balls next week, but will have to order the silver sparkly yarn from Amazon.  I might run up to Batesville and see if they have some at Hobby Lobby, but I didn't find any on their website, so I don't know.   I'll also need to find some sort of ring to tie it all to, but I'm sure that won't be too hard. 

Look at this!  I found another little bluebonnet seedling this morning!  

That makes 12 so far, and there may be even more before spring.  I planted seven packets of seeds after all...

And finally, I'm not sure how much you've been paying attention to what's going on in Baton Rouge, but LSU has absolutely cleaned house.  They fired not only Brian Kelly, but also the offensive coordinator, and Athletic Director Scott Woodward.   Even Governor Jeff Landry got involved.  It was a mess, I'm telling you.  

Just in case you were wondering what the governor had to do with it, he said that the Louisiana taxpayer would be the ones having to pick up the tab for Brian Kelly's $53 buyout.  I guess the university is getting funding from the state.  Most of them do these days.  

Navy lost for the first time, and I fear it won't be the last.  Their next three opponents are Notre Dame, Memphis, and South Florida.  Then they play the one that matters most.  They are bowl eligible, and as long as they beat Army, the season is a success.  

At least as far as I'm concerned.