Patriot's Day

 

Stand your ground

Don't fire unless fired upon

But if they mean to have a war

Let it begin here. 

Concord Hymn 

 RALPH WALDO EMERSON

By the rude bridge that arched the flood,

   Their flag to April’s breeze unfurled,

Here once the embattled farmers stood

   And fired the shot heard round the world.

The foe long since in silence slept;

   Alike the conqueror silent sleeps;

And Time the ruined bridge has swept

   Down the dark stream which seaward creeps.

On this green bank, by this soft stream,

   We set today a votive stone;

That memory may their deed redeem,

   When, like our sires, our sons are gone.

Spirit, that made those heroes dare

   To die, and leave their children free,

Bid Time and Nature gently spare

   The shaft we raise to them and thee.

Salad

Well, I came home to find cosmos #3 has become something's salad.  I don't know what's eating them, but I sure wish it would stop.  

I went ahead and took the cloches off, then sprayed them down again with my dishwashing liquid bug spray, and added one more weapon to my arsenal -- crushed egg shells.  

I've read that they can be a deterrent to slugs because they don't like the sharp edges and will not crawl over them.  

If this doesn't work, I don't know what else I'll do.  The slugs are why I stopped trying to grow marigolds, after all.  They kept eating them.   Shame, because I love marigolds.  

In work news, they've put up a sign up list for people to request a transfer to second shift.  I was seriously tempted for a moment to sign up, if for no other reason than to get away from my stalker.  But with my luck, he'd suddenly decide he needed to work late every day.  Sigh...

There are advantages to working second shift, though.  One is that I could get out and work in my yard in the cool of the morning, instead of the heat of midday.  Another is that I won't have to get up at 2:30 AM.  

And of course, there are fewer bosses on second shift, and fewer rules.  I won't have to use my purge gas.  I can pick and choose the easy orders to braze and not even have to worry that it's wayyyyy down in the schedule.  And I can play on my phone all day, wear earbuds, not wear my PPE correctly, and never have to clean up after myself.  

The downside is feeling like I have to watch the clock all day...waiting until time to get ready for work.  

Nah, I think I'll stay on day shift.

Dinosaurs!!

It appears it was a good thing I mowed yesterday, because we got a pretty good storm this morning -- with thunder and everything.  I'm not sure how much it rained, but it was enough to leave puddles in the parking lot at work.  So, yay me!

It also appears something is eating my Cosmos.  I went out to check them as soon as I got home, and another one has been completely stripped of its leaves.  After starting a load of laundry -- see, my list never ends, either -- I mixed up some diluted dishwashing liquid and sprayed the remaining two down pretty well, then I got my slug and snail killer and spread some of that around them, too.  Hopefully, that will be enough to keep them alive.  

The good news is, I'm seeing sprouts in my little greenhouse!  

I've been meaning to post these photos for a week now, and I'm finally getting around to it.  I'd mentioned that there is something new at the Memphis Zoo, and it is dinosaurs!  Real live dinosaurs!

They had them running loose in this one area, and you could go in and walk amongst them.  You did have to dodge getting eaten by some of the more...aggressive ones...

OK, not really.  Obviously, they were animatronic, but they were still pretty cool.   Most of them moved and made noise, but some were just models. 

They were life sized as well, 

despite the liberties Jurassic Park took with some of them...

Yeah, real velociraptors weren't as big as they showed them in the movie, being only about the size of a turkey. 

The triceratops was cool, 

as was this...whatever it is.  I think it's a Spinosaurus,  but I didn't take a picture of the sign, so I'm not completely sure.  

The Brachiosaur was truly awe inspiring. 

 I didn't intend to include a person in this photo, but I'm kind of glad she was there, so you can get some perspective on how big this thing really is. 

The person was a little taller than me -- maybe about 5'7".  

The whole thing was so cool, I said "I don't want to leave!  Where was this kind of thing when I was a kid."  But then, when I was a kid, we thought Tyrannosaurus Rex walked upright with a dragging tail...

Like this one from Dinosaur Valley State Park in Glen Rose, Tx.

Not my photo, by the way.  I swiped it off the internet.  At one time, I could have shown you an original photo, but Hurricane Ike ruined the ones my dad took, and dummy me taped over the video I made when I took Cody there when he was 8.  

I want to go back some day, and maybe some day I can. 

Anyway, I took a lot more photos up in Memphis, and if you want to see them, they're in my Facebook album.  Which you may or may not have seen, thanks to FB's stupid algorithm.  It's even got some videos in there, too. 

Done!

I am done with this list -- for now. 

 Yep, me with my old crazy self got out after work and mowed the front and side yards.  Only now I'm too tired to even lift my arms, but the list is done!

Yea, I know, I know.  It still says move daffodils, but I've decided it'll be better for them if I wait until they begin dying back naturally, so they get a reprieve for now.   I reckon, though, I'd better make a new list -- which unfortunately includes making phone calls. Ick. 

Also unfortunately, it looks like one of my little cosmos has died.  I'm not sure if I damaged the roots too much when I moved it or what, but it's a goner.  Hopefully, I'll have enough germinate from the next batch to fill the bed up. 

I know this is short, but after working a 10 hour shift, then coming home and mowing, I'm plumb wiped out.  I'm going to sit and do absolutely nothing for a minute. 

Laters.

And With That

I finished another hat yesterday.  

I'm not completely sure I like this colorway, but it is colorful.   I have enough yarn left for maybe three more hats, and I'm sure some sailor somewhere will like them.  In the meantime, I've cast on another one with the fluorescent stripes yarn.  That seems to be a favorite -- well, among my coworkers, that is.  

So anyway, I'd meant to post yesterday, but didn't really feel like it.  Sometimes I'm amazed that anyone even wants to read my drivel, since it's mostly a personal blog.  But the thing is, it can't become a chore.  It's been that in the past, and I've had to take a break.  I want it to be something I enjoy writing, and that I'll enjoy reading sometime in the future.  If you enjoy it, too, that's all the better. 

All that to say, what I would have posted yesterday is this.  I got up early and was able to take a photo of my sunflowers without the glare of full sun.  

I'm really enjoying them, even though I'd never like growing sunflowers.  This afternoon, I went to Walmart and picked up some stakes and got them secured.  

We're not expecting any severe weather until the weekend, but I wanted to make sure I got the sunflowers staked before it gets here.  I feel a lot better knowing that they have that extra support now.  Oh, and I got the ones in the back yard done, too.  I just didn't take a photo.

While I was out there, I moved the two knitting needles that I had been using previously to the Bachelor's Buttons to give them a little support. 

I'm not really too worried about them.  The main reason I'm even staking them is to make sure when they seed that the seeds fall into the flower bed and not the yard.  Like this one did...

It's a beautiful plant.  It's just not where I want it. 

Speaking of beautiful, look what I found!  

Yes, that is a bud on one of my bluebonnets!  Woo hoo!  I might get one yet!  Plus, I have six packets of seeds in the freezer to plant in the Fall. I'm also considering starting some and putting the into a pot.  We'll see...

Speaking of starting seeds, I was going to start them all in the orange pots, but I changed my mind.  Turns out, I could only fit four into the little greenhouse, so I put those into one of my old greenhouse trays and put them onto the front porch. 

Even though we're likely past the threat of frost, I'm still bringing them inside at night, for fear of critters getting into them.  This is a variety of Cosmos, but I can't remember what it's called.  Cutie, I think.  The others I'd bought are Dwarf Sensation, which is what I put into my mini greenhouse -- after I dragged that old sewing machine out into the dining area and set up on it. 

That thing was heavy!  I'm seriously considering giving it away once I'm done starting seeds.  On the other hand, it's nice and level, and the perfect size for that spot right there.  

I got the other two packets of seeds planted, making sure this time plant them to the correct depth, and not send them down to Australia like I did before.  Also, I didn't plant any in the corner cells, because they don't get as much light.  

And now we wait.  

 

And with that, I was able to scratch one more thing off of my to-do list. 

Moving the daffodils will be a multi-day process, once I even decide what to do with them.  And of course mowing...My yard is still a bit soggy, so I'm trying to wait until Thursday to mow, and even then, I think I'll only do the front and side yards.  I'll leave the back for a bit.  

My purple deadnettle is starting to die back, but there is still plenty of clover and those yellow flowers out there, so I'm going to wait a while to cut it all down.  Once I get my privacy fence up, I may never mow the back again.  

Busy Saturday

Before I get into today's business, I need to tell you I've finished reading that Fire Mage book.  

It was one of those that took me three tries and a lot of determination to slough through that whole thing.  It was awful.  

It was the typical post apocalyptic story -- only this one was fantasy instead of sci-fi-- where the main character is a spoiled, headstrong, whiny, selfish, narcissistic teenage girl, only this one was incredibly stupid as well.  She's constantly moaning about how bad luck follows her, but she's too stupid to realize she makes her own bad luck by making stupid decisions. 

Not only that, the book is self published, so it's absolutely loaded with spelling and grammar errors enough to make the book downright painful to read.  The story had such promise, but the plot is thin, the writing childish, and the characters shallow and undeveloped.  I won't be reading any more books in this series.  It's time to get back to Shakespeare. 

Now, on to today's post.  I had quite a lot on the agenda, so I made myself a list first thing this morning. 

 The second thing I did was decide not to mow today, mainly because the yard is still a bit soggy from all the recent rains, but also because I didn't want to, so I got out and got the rest of the firewood moved into the back.  

I've definitely got enough wood to last for a year or two!  And look, it's all clean on this side of my shed, and much easier to refill the bird feeder, which I promptly did. 

I really want to get that thing torn down and rebuilt in a smaller size, but I can't help but think that a shed of that size will really increase the resale value of the house.  Only if I get the flooding issues fixed, the leaks in the roof fixed, and the siding replaced.  At that rate, might as well just tear it down and start over.   The real issue with that is finding a contractor I can trust.  I've been ripped off by so many, and blown off by so many others that I just don't trust anyone any more. 

The next thing I got taken care of is getting that little front flower bed cleaned out.  It was choked with weeds, but I got the ol' garden claw out and took care of those post haste.  I also lifted the edging a bit so it sits higher.  It had sunk so low you could barely see it, but now it's clearly visible. 

Then into their new home the four little Cosmos went.  

I went ahead and put the one lonely little bluebonnet that germinated into that bed as well, and covered it with a cloche so I won't forget that it's there and pull it up. 

I think next Fall I might try to plant some bluebonnets in this little bed, but I haven't decided yet.  None of the ones I planted in the back corner have done anything.  Except die, that is.  

Well, I lied to you yesterday.  I'd said I was done with the sunflowers, but look what surprised me in my seed starting tray this morning. 

Yep, another sunflower!  I moved it into this other pot right away, and now it's hanging out inside Marty Mac's cage for the time being. 

I have to put Marty Mac into a cage, because something keeps digging him up.  After the second time he was uprooted last summer, I found some old chicken wire and made this little cage for him, but in just a few days, something had dragged the entire cage across the porch and dumped Marty Mac over.  He wasn't uprooted, but that afternoon, I put the chunks of scrap concrete in there.   He's been just fine ever since.

But back to the little sunflower,  I might have messed up moving it so quickly, but I want to use the tray to start my next batch of seeds, so it had to come out.  Meanwhile, the other sunflowers are thriving.  

Even the one I had to prop up with the knitting needle has grown strong again, and I can probably take the needle out. 

I think I'm still going to get some stakes for them, even though most websites say they can stand on their own.  What with our spring storms and all, it won't hurt to give them a little extra support. 

By the time I'd done all that, I was tired and hot and sweaty, so I came in side and took a quick shower, then sat in front of the TV for the rest of the day.  I still want to start another set of seeds, but I'm going to use the other starting pots I'd bought instead of the tray. 

I'm still going to use the bottom tray and the heat mat, along with the grow lights, but not the part with the little seed cells.  I might get that taken care of later today, or tomorrow, but for now, I think I'll find a movie to watch and finish the hat I've got on the needles. 

Laters.

I Made It!

 I spent all afternoon looking over my shoulder, but I made it!  I made it to the end of my shift and out of the plant without anyone telling me to come in to work tomorrow!  

Yay, I have a weekend again!

I have a lot I want to get done tomorrow, but let's face it.  I probably won't do any of it.  Knowing me, I'll end up sitting in front of the TV all weekend.  But I have good intentions.  I'm thinking about running up to Batesville to see what they have in the garden center at their Walmart and Lowe's.  Cody has requested cilantro and Italian Parsley, and the local Walmart still doesn't have any. 

Plus, my friend Amy told me about a nursery up in Coldwater that I want to go to, but that won't be tomorrow.  I've had enough of driving for a while.  

Anyway, on the list is to move the rest of the firewood back into the old chicken coop, and the first thing I did when I got home was to...well, the first thing I did was laundry, but nobody wants to hear about that.   I got the wheelbarrow and loaded up the little bit of wood that was here and moved my Whatever Cacti outside into their summer home. 

We really aren't supposed to have any more cold spells, so they will be fine until the Fall.  I'm going to have to spend a bit of time over the next few days getting the rest of the wood moved to the back, but it's supposed to be beautiful weather for it.  

The last thing I did was to get the last of the sunflowers planted.  I had to put it in the back yard, because there isn't any room anywhere else. 

That's it for them, but I still have all those cosmos to find a place for -- and when I say all those, I'm including the ones I haven't even planted yet.  Which I also plan on doing this weekend.  Right now, the plan is to clean out that skinny bed in front of my porch and put them there. 

I mean, I'm going to start the seeds in my little greenhouse, but that's where I'm going to put them after they germinate.  

Speaking of seeds, I got a wild hair and decided to try to catch some of the seeds from my Bachelor's buttons that I have growing in the front bed.  I'd planted a bunch of wildflower seeds in that bed a couple of years ago, and the BBs are the only ones that keep re-seeding themselves.  I'm not even sure why I want to catch the seeds, since I can just buy some at Walmart, but hey, it's an experiment. 

I got a little plastic baggy and tied it around an already wilted flower, and we'll just see what happens. 

I'll let the rest of the flowers develop and seed naturally, but I'd love to have a nice, thick stand of these.  

When I got home from work Tuesday, I noticed this one little sunflower was flopped over.  The stem didn't seem to be damaged in any way, so I don't really know why it was drooping.  I'm going to get some stakes for all of them, just to give them a little stability in the high spring winds, but for now, I used a size 15 Boye knitting needle.  

That's it for today.  I think I'll get off here and knit a bit. 

Laters. 

Just Like That

Just like that, we're back on ten hour shifts.  Man, I wanted to cry when I set my alarm for 2:45, but we gotta do what we gotta do.  However, I would be remiss if I didn't show you the photos from my trip to see Peggy -- oh, and the eclipse, too. 

Funny thing is, when I went up there in 2017 and found out there would be another eclipse in 2024, I somewhat jokingly said, "We'll have to do this again in seven years."  I never in my life thought it would actually happen, but as you can see, it did!

We had a bit of a change of plans at the last minute, due to the expected crowds in Peggy's town.  We had planned on going to the park like we did last time -- just a different part-- but when they said they were expecting some 20,000 people, Peggy messaged me and said we'd just watch from her front yard. 

That's exactly what we did.  

But I'm getting ahead of myself.  

The plan had been for me to leave the motel around 8:00, figuring that would give me plenty of time to get to Missouri, but I got ready and got the car packed a lot quicker than I figured I would.  I got tired of sitting there, so I hit the road about 7:30.  I told you about the trip yesterday, which -- except for the super dense fog -- went without a hitch.  I arrived at their house around 10:00, and Peggy finally got to meet Suzette in person. 

For those of you who don't know the story, Peggy and I had a lovely, dear friend named Suzy.  She had multiple medical issues and was in end stage kidney failure.  Suzy often mentioned how much she would like to travel, but alas, she was tied to that dialysis clinic.  

Once, she made an offhand remark about how she missed going to fiber festivals, and said if anyone were going to one to think about her.  Well, that year, I went to the Fiber Fun In The 'Sip, and put together a little gift bag for her.  It had the bags they were handing out at the door, some yarn, some knitting tools like a tape measure, a bar of kudzu soap, and this little felted alpaca.  

When Suzy left us the following April -- it's hard to believe it's been four years now-- and I still miss her every single day -- the only thing I asked for was the little felted alpaca.  I named her Suzette, and she goes with me on all the trips Suzy couldn't go on.   This trip, she got to go see a total solar eclipse.  And yes, she had her glasses on.  

Safety first, you know.  For all of us.

By the way, do you have any idea how hard it is to take a selfie when you can't see anything?  Yeah, I took about 8 and this is the best one. 

But again, I'm getting ahead of myself.  So, I met Peggy's daughter and her cat, Fiona, the sweetest cat ever.  They both got a good laugh when I told them my cat's name.  You know her as Evil Incarnate.  We visited a bit, knit a bit, then it was time for lunch.  We had chicken salad, which Peggy said was a sort of a family tradition started back when they went to Shakespeare In The Park in St. Louis.  

I said I would love to go to Shakespeare In The Park some day.  We talked, and laughed, and visited, and had a great time.  Then the eclipse started.  We moved out into the driveway, and we squealed and marveled and sat amazed at the wonder of it all. 

 Peggy's daughter went and got the colander, and we said, "Oh, wow!" at the crescent shaped shadows.

And we looked at the shadows of the trees on the ground, and wowed at them, too. 

Then we reached totality. 

And the heavens declared the glory of God, and the skies proclaimed the works of His hands. 

We heard the crickets singing, and the sunset all around the horizon, and it got cold, and we saw planets, and all too soon totality was over and the moon moved on, and it became daylight again.  The birds began their wake up songs and the warmth returned and it was time for me to come on home, still in awe of what I had witnessed.  

I'm telling you, if you've never seen a total eclipse, you need to do whatever it takes to get yourself into the path of totality.  And I do mean totality.  Not 99%.  Not even 99.9%  You need to be in the path of totality, because it's the most amazing thing you'll ever see.  

And for the next one,  I will be in the path of totality.  

If I'm still here in MS, you are all invited to my house!  

Well, not all of you, but you know who you are...

And now, since 2:45 comes mighty early, I reckon I'd better start getting ready for bed.  I still want to tell you about the zoo, but that'll have to wait for another day.  Don't become alarmed if blogging is sparse for the next little bit as I get accustomed to sleep deprivation.  I'm still here.  

Just tired.  

Hey Google, Let’s Talk

Seriously, Google Maps, we need to have a conversation about your navigation skills.   

So, there I was heading South on I-55, happily heading home from hanging with Peggy.  There was traffic on the road, but not really any more than normal.  At least, it wasn't any worse than when I came home from my nephew's weeding last August.  Funny thing is, as soon as I crossed the border into Arkansas, most of the traffic seemed to disappear.  I don't know where it went, but hey, I'll take it. 

Heh, I even ran into the same road construction as I did seven months ago -- having to straddle the rumble strips just like I did back then.  And that same freaky stretch of road that made it sound like my car was about to fall apart, just like last time.  

Anyway, I was about 25 miles outside of Memphis, making good time when Google maps sent me the message that it had found a "faster route."  

"Faster route?"  I said.  "Yes please!"  

Only Google Maps didn't take into account the eclipse traffic.  Yep, I finally hit it.  I swan I think every single resident of Memphis and Northwestern Tennessee had travelled into Arkansas to watch the eclipse, and they all seemed to hit that same stretch of road at the same time as I did.  To make matters worse, parts of I-55 were shut down for construction, so we all -- and I do mean all -- had to cross the river on the I-40 bridge.  

An hour and a half, I sat there in a line of cars that was literally miles long, creeping along at a snail's pace, asking Google, "How is this faster?"  In retrospect, I think I would have been better off staying on the highway.  I mean, there still would have been traffic, but with fewer twists and turns.  And after all of that, I still had to drive through Memphis.  In the dark. 

Have I ever mentioned how much I hate driving through Memphis?  And I sure wish they'd ban those halogen headlights...

On the bright side, I got to see a full rainbow, which I haven't seen one in ages.  And on the brighter side, that one spot was really the only traffic I ran into the whole way.  I'd planned on stopping at the Mississippi welcome center and doing a Suzette update, but by the time I got through Memphis, all I wanted to do was get on home, so I drove the whole way without stopping.  Not even once.  

I didn't make it home until 9:00, and yes, I got up at 3:30 to go to work this morning, so I'm a bit wiped out. 

Eh, I suppose I can't really blame Google for not anticipating the eclipse traffic.  The trip up Sunday was a different story altogether.  I drove up Sunday and went to the zoo, but now let me preface my story by saying I know how to get to the zoo.  I've been there dozens of times.  The way I go is simple and straightforward, but this time, I wanted to see what Google Maps showed me.  Maybe it's easier and less trafficky.  

Nope.  

I don't even know where Google took me, but it was definitely the long way around.  I ended up going past the zoo following their directions and came in from the opposite side as I usually do...I mean, the far side of the zoo entrance.  I won't be doing that again.  

I had a very nice time at the zoo, but didn't really take a lot of photos.  I did get this one of the newborn giraffe for you. 

He is only a few days old.   I'll talk more about the zoo in a later post, because there was something very exciting there.  

After leaving the zoo, I headed to my motel, which sits right on Highway 51.  But instead of taking me straight up 51, Google sent me up Highway 14, then I had to take another road and come back a bit to get to the motel.  So yeah, I don't completely trust Google Maps so much. 

When I finally got to the motel, I had a brief moment of panic when the clerk checking me in couldn't find my reservation.  I opened the Hotel app and showed her the confirmation, and she was able to find the number she needed to check me in.  For some strange-odd reason, the app had booked the room under my user name, not my legal name, but in the end all was well. 

I got checked in and was on my way to my room, when I passed another woman I'd never ever seen before in my life.  And she started talking to me.  She told me about her husband, how she and her best friend track each other on their phones, their houses in Florida, where to get something good to eat...I finally got away from her, went up to my room, and by then I was so tired all I wanted to do was take a shower and lay down.  That's just what I did. 

Suzette, on the other hand, apparently had a pretty wild night of partying, because I found her passed out in the floor the next morning. 

Now, I have to give credit where credit is due, because after getting Suzette some hot coffee and sobering her up a bit, we hit the road and Google led me straight to Peggy's house with not a whit of a problem.  Indeed, the biggest problem I faced was that the fog was so very thick.  Seriously, as one point, I was just following the car in front of me, hoping that driver could see where he was going.  

It was so thick, when I crossed the Mississippi River at Caruthersville, I couldn't see the river, I couldn't see the bridge, I couldn't see anything.  All I could think was, "I sure hope there isn't a cargo ship under this bridge."  Thankfully, there wasn't, and Suzette and I made it safely to Missouri,

then on to Peggy's house. 

Which I will tell you more about in a later post.  Right now, all I'm going to do is sit and rest a bit.  

I'm plumb knackered.