Yes I Am

Why yes, yes I am going to bore you with photos of all of my plants!  There'll be other stuff, too, so hang in there until the end.  Or not.  It's totally up to you. 

First up, since I never heard back from the first landscaper, I came home and sent a message to the other one I'd found on Facebook.  I haven't heard back yet, so keep your fingers crossed that this one shows up and does the job so I can start getting my raised beds put up.  I'm going to need them, too.  

Look who got their first taste of big boy sun this afternoon!

I'm going to have to up-pot some of the bigger ones pretty soon, because they're almost to the top of the greenhouse.  

What I did up-pot is my sweet banana pepper.  

I don't know if it's going to stay in that pot for good.  If I can get my beds set up, I want to grow banana peppers in one, so I may move this plant into one of them.  If I'd known how much I like banana peppers, I might have been growing them a lot earlier.  

Since I was outside already, I walked around taking photos of all of my other backyard plants.  Behold, my sage and rosemary.

My French Tarragon.  

The white stuff is the diatomaceous earth I've been putting into that planter to kill the fire ants.   It's become an afternoon ritual.  I get home, fill the bird feeder, shake ant poison onto the new beds...you know.  The normal stuff.  But since these are herbs, I want something food safe in this planter.  Thus, the diatomaceous earth. 

This is my Greek oregano.  

My lemon balm.  I also want to have a whole bed full of this, too.  

My peppermint, which will probably stay in this planter so it doesn't take over the whole bed. 

And my orange mint, which might get the whole other side of this bed.  Provided I can keep whatever ate my last one up away from this one. 

 Now for the good news, in less time than it has taken me to write this far, the second landscaper has already responded to my message and we've set up a time for him to come.   Maybe this one will show up and I'll finally get my garden spot started -- not to mention the low spots in my front yard filled in. 

In other news, I didn't make it to the store again today.  To buy a new window unit, I mean.  At this point, I may just order one and have it delivered.  What with that and all the gardening stuff I've been ordering, my UPS man is getting quite a workout.

Now if you'll excuse me, I found a new to me show on Prime called Atlantis, in which a young man named Jason goes through some sort of time warp and ends up in ancient Greece.  I'm going to go get something to eat and watch a few episodes. 

Oh, and knit a bit. 

Laters.   

Not So Quiet Sunday

Sunday is supposed to be a day of rest, right?  But today, I found I simply couldn't keep still.  After all the rain we've had this week -- plus more on the way this evening -- I had to take advantage of the beautiful weather we had.  

Well, it started last night when I decided to put a li'l fire in my fire pit and sit outside for a while.  

It didn't last long, because even with insect repellent on and a citronella candle burning, the skeeters were still eating me up.  The Incarnation of Evil and I enjoyed it while it lasted, though.   

I had to feel sorry for the cat, there.  She'd caught something, but I don't know what it was, because as she was running to show it to me, she dropped it and it got away.  She's still looking for it in that photo up there.  I still went over there and petted her and told her what a good girl she was, so maybe that made her feel better.  

I went back out for a bit this afternoon, but again, I couldn't sit still.  I wrote a few lines in a letter to my Australian pen pal, then jumped up and sprinkled some more diatomaceous earth in the raised bed -- the one with the fire ants in it.  I sat back down, then jumped up and pulled some weeds.  I sat back down, then went and turned my compost tumbler a bit...and so on and so forth until my Adirondack chairs were out in the bald sun.  Then I came inside and took a shower.  

Now I'm watching a fairly new crime show on Hulu called Tell Me How I Died.  It's a true crime show about forensic pathologists solving difficult crimes.  

But I'm getting ahead of myself.  

The day started when the cat woke me up yowling outside my bedroom door at 4:30 this morning.  I fussed at her a bit, but she doesn't understand the concept of sleeping in.  A couple of cups of coffee and a couple of episodes of Sins Of Our Mother, which was recommended by a coworker, during which I cast on another charity hat. 

And just for fun, I went back and watched the very first episode of Call The Midwife.  I don't know if I am going to re-watch the entire series, but it's fun seeing them all so young, and the ones who are no longer there.  

As soon as the sun came up, I re-potted my tomato plant and put the rods into the pot. 

I haven't tied any twine to them yet, but I will within the next couple of days--at least down towards the bottom.  I'll add more rings of twine as the plant grows.    

Since we're facing the possibility of heavy rains tonight and into tomorrow, I've put it onto the front porch for now.  

That way, it will be protected from the deluge, but still get  plenty of direct sunlight.  I'll probably eventually move it to the back yard, once monsoon season is over.   

Speaking of,  it won't be long before I up-pot and begin to harden these basil seedlings off. 

I can almost see them getting bigger by the day.  I've rearranged the little sponges so that the smaller, weaker seedlings are closest to the grow lights, and that seems to be helping them a bit.  Maybe this year, I can make real pesto without having to add spinach to get enough.  Oh, and I need to look up recipes that use pesto...

And finally, Texas QB Quinn Ewers was drafted in the 7th round.  It would seem the NFL might just agree with those of us who've been saying he's over rated.  

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to close this so I can enjoy my last few moments of my day off. 

Laters. 

Another One

Well, at this point, I can only assume that I’ve been blown off yet again. 

That’s right, still not a word from the landscaper, and he came so highly recommended, too. But as I was despairing last night of ever getting the job I need done, another landscaper posted his number in of the local groups, so I got it.  Best thing, he said call, TEXT or message. 

That gives an introvert like me a lot of leeway.

I figure I'll shoot him a text Monday evening when I get of work.  I need to get on this, because yes, I ordered another raised bed from Amazon. This one is 8' x 2', which is what I want to put around the fence line and next to the house.  Then I'll put my 4' x 4' beds in the center.  I'll have to start laying them out to see how things are going to line up, and to do that, I need the space prepped.  

Hopefully, this landscaper will show up and do the job.  If he doesn't, I don't know what I'm going to do.  Oh, and bad news, the fire ants have taken up residence ...well, all over my yard, but some have moved into one of my planters. Since I've got food items planted there, I didn't want to use poison, so this afternoon I got out and gave them a good dusting of diatomaceous earth. 

That's French tarragon, sage, and rosemary growing in this bed.  Once I get my herb garden set up, they will each have a space in it, and I may get a few more of each.  The long term plan is, once I get everything established and growing well, after I retire, I may sell little bundles of fresh herbs down at the Farmer's Market on the square. 

You know, just to have something to do with them, since I don't really cook any more.  Sometimes I don't understand myself.  I've always wanted an herb garden, but I don't know why.  Oh, well...Somebody will do something with them.  

In a strange case of irony too rich to go unsavored, I had planned on going to Walmart after work and buying a new window unit for my bedroom.  Alas, it got up to 94° at my work station, and by the time I got off, I was too hot and miserable to go to the store, so I just came home. 

And finally, I found out that the guy who got ran over came back to work the very next day. He won't need any surgery or anything.  He'll be in a boot for a while, and they've moved him to another area of the plant where he can sit down while his foot heals. 

He got lucky, because that could have been really, really bad. 

Not Yet

Well, I haven't heard from the landscaper again, but honestly, when this came across my phone this morning, I didn't really think he'd come today anyway.  

I figure I'm probably going to have to wait until monsoon season is over to get someone to show up, but I am wondering, how long is it necessary to wait before I assume I've been ghosted yet again?   If he's not going to show, I need to go ahead and find someone else so I can get started getting my beds ready.  On the other hand, there's not much he can do anyway until it starts raining, so we have time.  

By the way, one of the local meteorologists posted that the rain washed a big sinkhole in a used car lot here in town.  That rain was something else!  Too bad it didn't come in the middle of the night, because that's good sleeping weather.  

On a similar note, I was standing there at work, wondering if I really needed to go to Walmart today, being that they are still remodeling and I can't find anything.  Then I spent the rest of the day with the theme from Indiana Jones stuck in my head. 

And as I expected, there were things I needed that I didn't find, but when I went into the garden center, I found this: 

an orange mint plant.  I debated for a good long while, but at this point, I'm sure the one I had last year isn't coming back, so I splurged and bought the new one.  Now I need to figure out how to keep it from getting eaten up like the last one did.  Tomorrow, I'll give it a good dusting with my diatomaceous earth.  Maybe that'll help.  

I'd gone to the garden center with the intention of getting a tomato plant, and after much deliberation, I chose this one. 

I almost bought a tomato cage, too, but then I remembered I still have all of those posts I bought last year to stake my sunflowers.  I'll just use a few of those and some garden twine and make a cage of my own. 

By the way, I did find where they put the window unit air conditioners.  I might just go back and get one tomorrow afternoon.  

And finally, the volunteer bachelor's button is loaded with blooms and buds. 

 I got my new weedeater battery fully charged last night and had to go try it out.  It's got a little guide thing that keeps you from whacking stuff you don't want to, and that will come in very handy for me.  I was able to whack all around this little plant and somehow managed not to cut it down. 

And I love the new weedeater.  It's so much lighter and so much quieter than the old gas powered one.  I can see myself doing a whole lot more trimming now.  

I Guess They Didn’t

I guess they didn't hear us after all, because That Driver was right back on the tugger this morning.  Someone said they'd given her a drug test, and she wasn't impaired -- just a bad driver, so they OKed her to go back to work. I haven't heard anything about the man, though.  How he is, I mean.  I'll ask tomorrow if anyone knows anything. 

We had a bit more excitement today, when I saw someone running across the plant towards a group of supervisors, shouting, "Hey!  Hey!"  A moment later, all of those supervisors came running back the way she came and ran into the women's bathroom.  Long story short, someone had fainted and to be honest, I feel she probably just got overheated.  These young folks have spent their entire lives in air conditioning.  They don't know how to handle a 90° factory.

If they're falling out this early, they'll never make it through August, I'm telling you. 

In other news, the landscaper didn't show.  Didn't call.  Nothing.  To be fair, it's been raining almost non stop for the last two days, so I haven't given up just yet.  In the meantime, I decided it was time to play God with my little basil seedlings and decide which ones live and which ones die. 

OK, OK, all dramatics aside, I decided it was time to thin them down to one per pod. I tried to pick the strongest one in each, but in some cases, it boiled down to an eenie meenie miney mo type of thing.  I hope I picked the right one.  I guess we'll see.  

Here are the lucky survivors.

And here are the poor little ones who didn't make the cut.  

 They are now composting the back yard.  And just after I tossed them out into the mud, I thought I should have added them to the olive oil I'm infusing with basil.  Oh well, there'll be plenty more soon enough. 

While we're on the subject, I went to ask Supervisor GreenJeans to sign a scrap ticket and he told me all about his garden -- how high his beans were gitting, his potatoes, all of it.  He gets so excited about this stuff.  

He really should have been a farmer. 

Can You Hear Us Now?

There I was at work, just a working away, keeping my head down and minding my own business when suddenly I heard a blood curdling scream coming from the direction of the automatic brazers.  We all ran over like lemmings to see what was going on, and it was a terrible terrible thing. 

First, you need a little explanation to understand what was going on.  In order to get the parts from the component areas -- tubing, fin press, sheet metal, etc -- they are loaded onto buggies, which can be connected together and are then pulled by what we call a tugger.  

With me so far?  

OK, so there was a man who was hooking up a buggy full of parts to the end of a train of buggies, only the tugger driver didn't wait for him to get clear of the line of buggies.  She just jumped up onto the tugger and started driving while he was still in front of the last buggy, and she ran over the man.  

He was laying in the floor screaming, and one of the maintenance guys named Derek ran over and quite literally turned into the Incredible Hulk, and lifted that entire buggy full of parts off the man so the others who were there could pull him out.  I don't know how badly hurt the man is, but he was sitting up and talking as they wheeled him to First Aid.  

Once we figured out what had happened and that the guy would be OK, I turned to a couple of my coworkers and said, "I don't mean no harm..."

Ever notice that when someone says they don't mean any harm, they're about to say something harmful.  And yes, I know it's a double negative.  I was speaking vernacular.  I do that in real life, you know.

But I digress...

I turned to my coworkers and said, "I don't mean no harm, but That Driver should never have been on a tugger in the first place."  They all agreed with me on that point.  Then, we all began wondering how HRH will take this out on the rest of us.  What will they take away from us now? 

That's the thing.  As much as they hoot and holler about safety, it isn't really that much of a priority for them.   They care about giving the appearance of caring about safety, but they don't care that much about making the plant a safe place to work.   I'll give you an example.

Over in the sub-brazing area, we have conveyors where we put our completed orders.  Back when they first put them out there, they were about 3" higher than the highest our little rolling tables would raise up to, which meant we had to pick up all those heavy bins of parts.   We have been begging for years for them to lower them, but they wouldn't do it.  I know for a fact, at least four maintenance request were submitted, but they were all rejected because someone named Lee Jackson -- whoever that is-- said he didn't think it was that big of a deal, and he wasn't going to do it.  Lower the conveyors, I mean. 

We finally got them lowered about a month ago, but I had to go all the way to the head of the safety department to get it done.   I told him about all the maintenance orders, and he said, "You didn't tell me!"  But I shouldn't have had to.  ANY time an employee brings up a safety concern, it should be taken seriously and dealt with right away.  

I heard from multiple sources that a lot of people have complained about that particular tugger driver, but nobody did anything about it, and today it could very well have cost a man his life.  So to those members of management who don't want to listen...

CAN YOU HEAR US NOW??????

In more pleasant news, my mysterious package that Amazon felt it had to hide for privacy has arrived, so I can show you what it is.  A new weedeater!

This one is battery operated and sooo much lighter that my old gas powered one.  I've already put one of the batteries onto the charger, but it won't be done before I go to bed tonight.  I'll probably just unplug the whole thing and finish it tomorrow.  

Funny thing, the UPS delivery guy rang my doorbell, which he doesn't usually do.  I thought maybe I'd need to sign for the package or something, so I went out there and he just wanted to ask about my snakes. He remembered when I lived on Riverdale Road and had the snakes and my dogs.  I told him the dogs have died, but I still have four of the snakes.  He was amazed that they are 21 years old.  

He asked if I had anything new, and I said just the cat.  I told him I'd gotten her when the man across the street died, and he said, "Oh, yeah, that's {So and so's} dad, and he called his daughter in law's name.  

And I'm thinking, isn't that life in a small town? 

And finally, the landscaper I reached out to messaged me back last night after I'd gone to bed.  In a strange stroke of luck, I just happened to be beset with insomnia, so I picked up my phone and there the message was.  He said he'd come by today and we could talk about what I want done, but so far, he's been a no-show.  

I'm not giving up just yet, though.  It rained pretty hard last night, so it might have gotten him a bit behind.  But keep your fingers crossed.  I'm anxious to get started with my herb gardens!

Called It

Did I call that or what?  

Yep, you guessed it, Stalker came in this morning wearing Khakis and a polo type shirt.  It wasn't an official uniform shirt with the company logo on it  --they only give those to the real supervisors -- but it was still a polo shirt.  We all laughed when we saw him.  Then I had an evil thought.  I leaned over to another brazer and said, "I wonder if you told Stalker I think bald men are sexy, would he go home tonight and shave his head?"  

Sometime later, she came back and said she'd told him, so I guess we'll see.  I don't think he'd really shave his head -- he's way too vain for that -- but it would hilarious if he did.  My coworker said, "If he comes in tomorrow with a bald head, you're going to have to carry me out of here!" 

You want to hear something really funny?  Someone from the back came up to use the bathroom, and when she walked through the sub brazing area, she said, "Did y'all get another new supervisor?  Where'd he come from?"  One of the brazers said, "That's Uncle Supervisor!"  She replied, "It is not!"  We all laughed at that, because truth is, I didn't recognize him either.  I think in the 30 years I've worked there, yesterday was the first time I'd ever seen him without his hat on. 

In other news,  I'm pretty sure we're past any danger of frost.  I mean it's almost May, after all, so I went ahead and moved the Christmas Cacti outside to their summer home. 

There they'll stay until the first frost comes along.  

By the way, be proud of me.  I finally sent a message to a local landscaper.  He hasn't answered back yet, but it's a start.  And if he doesn't answer back, at least I can cross him off the list and look for another one.  I hope I can find someone soon,  because my little basil plants are growing like gangbusters and will need a place to live. 

I've still got a few weeks before things get critical, but no sense in putting things off any longer.  I'm anxious to get this project started.  

I just wish it weren't so difficult for me to reach out -- even to hire someone.  As I've said before, I've been slapped down so many times in this town, I've almost come to expect it. 

I guess I'll just have to get my fat old hiney out there and do it myself. 

That Was Weird

So there I was yesterday evening, watching TV, when I got one of those text reminders from MyChart about a doctor's appointment on April 30th.  

"April 30th!"  I exclaimed.  "I thought my appointment was May 5th."  

I went and checked the appointment card I had on my refrigerator, and sure enough, it said May 5th.  I decided to ignore the text and told myself I'd call Monday (as in today as I type this) and verify the correct date.  

A few moments later, I opened my computer to check e-mail and saw one from, you guessed it, MyChart again asking me to confirm my appointment for April 30th.  And again, I ignored it since I was intending to call and confirm.  But shortly after that, the phone rang.  

It was one of those robocall things from the doctor's office asking me yet again to confirm my appointment.  This time, I went through the process of cancelling it, and told myself I must have gotten the dates mixed up, and I'd call and reschedule it as soon as I got home from work.  

After a long day in the factory -- more about that in a moment-- I came home and called the clinic. "I need to reschedule my appointment," I told the receptionist.  "You mean the one you have on May 5th?" she replied. 

"Oh?  It is May 5th?" I exclaimed.  Then I told her about the e-mail and text I'd gotten, then said, "If the appointment is May 5th, then that's perfect.  I don't need to reschedule."  She confirmed that it was, I thanked her, and hung up, thinking that was so weird.  

Now I wonder whose appointment was April 30th and if that person will show up and discover it had been cancelled. 

You want to hear something else that's weird?  

I ordered something on Amazon the other day, and the confirmation email...well, see for yourself. 

 Um, what exactly do you think I ordered that needs to be hidden for privacy?  I'll let you stew on that, then I'll show you when it gets here Wednesday. 

And finally, there is a new policy out at work that started today.  The supervisors have to dress up now.  No more blue jeans and t-shirts, and no more ball caps.  I think that's the first time I've ever seen Uncle Supervisor without a cap on his head.  I almost didn't recognize him.  

Demi-god said the policy came down from HRH -- which does not stand for her royal highness, but rather Human Resources director from Hell -- and Supervisor Apollo (because he thinks the sun rises and sets in himself) didn't even come to work today.  Demi-god said he had to go out and buy some new clothes, but I said maybe he's got a bald spot and is going out getting hair plugs.  

I don't actually know if he's got a bald spot, because I can't even remember the last time I saw him without a cap.  

But you know who they didn't tell about the new policy?  The ones who aren't really supervisors no matter how badly they want to be.  Yep, I'm talking about Stalker.  He showed up in faded jeans and a t-shirt.  I said to a coworker he's probably going to run out and buy some slacks and polo shirts this evening and wear them tomorrow.  

Now, if you'll excuse me, I think I'll go take a shower, then knit a bit while watching some TV.  

Laters.

P.S.  Does anyone really read my posts, or are you all just liking the links on FB and moving on?  

Resurrection Sunday

 

After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.  

There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from Heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it.  His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow.  The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men. 

The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified.  He is not here; he has risen, just as he said.  Come and see the place where he lay.  

Matthew 28: 1-6

Double Trouble

Today is double trouble day.  

"And why is it double trouble day?" you may ask.  

Well, I'll tell you...because you get two blog posts!  The first one was the history post I published this morning, which I still stubbornly do every year even though those types of post draw very little traffic to the blog.  Since I didn't post yesterday, I felt I needed to catch you up on what's been going on -- which doesn't make sense because the stuff I'm telling you about happened today.  

But that's the way my crazy brain works. 

First up, the good news.  We did have today off from work.  A few people had to go in, but I wasn't one of them.  The first thing I did this morning was to sleep past 4:30 AM.  OK, the cat only let me sleep until about 5:45, but hey, we take small victories where we find them. 

I spent a leisurely morning with a cup of coffee and a few loads of laundry -- I washed my new allergy pad before putting it onto the bed, so that created an extra load, then I decided to wash the blanket, too -- and I went outside to sit in my chair for a bit, but didn't stay long before the mosquitoes found me, so I came back in and caught up on some DVRed TV shows.  

What I hadn't planned on doing was mowing.  What I ended up doing was...mowing. 

I started out weed-eating, but then the weed eater broke.  It would seem when I changed out the gas tank last year, I didn't get the bolts tight enough, and the vibrations must have loosened them enough that they fell out.   There I was, just a weed-eating away when the tank fell off, the motor quit, and gas was spraying everywhere.  Well, phooey.  

I'm sure I can find some bolts that fit.  I just need to figure out size.  If I can find an online breakdown of that model, it should be pretty easy to do just that.  I'm thinking about selling that one anyway, and buying an electric model.  I know there are downsides to them, but the gas one I have is just too heavy.  Ten years ago, I could handle it.  Today, not so much. 

Anyway, with the weedeater out of service, I cranked up the ol' lawnmower, and this time I did the whole yard, including the back.  I even threw in the towel and cut down all of the wild garlic after deciding that the ground had gotten too hard, and it was starting to die back anyway.   

One of the landscaping websites I was reading said that if I hoe them down when they first start showing up in the Fall, the lack of sunshine will starve the bulbs.  I'm going to try that, and see if I can stay on top of them that way.  But first, I'll need to buy a hoe.  Believe it or not, I don't have one. 

I was able to mow around my biggest and healthiest patches of clover and my daisy fleabane, 

and the little yellow flowers I like so much.  Everything else got cut down. Well, except for the day lilies and spider lilies I want the landscaper to come dig up. 

I figure it'll be easier for him to do that if he can actually see what it is I want gone.  I'm determined to contact one THIS WEEK.  But Monday, after Easter.  

By the way, I did some research and found out Basil is an annual, so the one from last year wouldn't have come back anyway, even if I hadn't pulled it up.  But at least now I know. 

While we're on that subject, my little seedlings are getting their first true leaves! 

I know it's hard to see them in this photo because they're so tiny, but they're there.  That means that soon, I'll have to pick the strongest one in each pod and cut the others down.  I always hate that part, but it must be done. 

Now for a bit of bad news, my last little bluebonnet has gone to that great Texas in the sky. 

I think maybe I overdid it with the direct sunlight, so I brought it back into the house and put it under a fluorescent lamp.  Maybe it'll perk up.  Maybe it won't.  I know I've gotten them to grow in the past.  Just click on the bluebonnet label in the right sidebar and you'll see them.  You have to scroll back a couple of years, but they're definitely there.  

Oh, and look what I found in the shed when I was getting the lawnmower out!  An empty pot, and it's definitely big enough to grow a tomato in.  

Next time I go to the store, I'll pick one up, along with a cage, and we'll be in business.  Once I finally get my raised beds in place, I do want to save two for tomatoes and banana peppers.  I'll have one pollinator garden -- at least -- and the rest will be herbs. 

After spending much of the late morning and early afternoon doing yard work, then taking a nice hot shower, I settled in with some knitting and Easter shows. 

 That is some yarn I got at a past Fiber Fun In The 'Sip, back when my friend Leann was still vending at that show.  It's called Toasted Marshmallow, and I love how it's knitting up.  But it is making me hungry, so I think I'll go get myself something to eat. 

Laters.  

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.

Thor's Day Mayhem

It would seem after an extended absence, Loki has once again returned to the plant to wreak Thor's Day Mayhem on the plant.  Or at least on me. 

Yes, every single order I got today had something wrong with it.  Every.  Single. One.  By the end of the day, I was so frustrated and out of sorts, I almost felt like crying.  I didn't, but I felt like it. 

Then I decided to go to Walmart today instead of tomorrow, because I figured it would be a madhouse the Friday before Easter.  It was still a madhouse, but hopefully I avoided the worst of it.  Oh, and while I was standing in line waiting to check out, a lady ahead of me got into a shouting match with the cashier.  

I'm not exactly sure how it started, but I could hear was the customer screaming, "You shut up!" at the cashier, and the cashier replying, "Don't tell me to shut up!'' and the customer shouting "Shut up!" again and again until the cashier walked away and got a manager to come finish ringing the rude customer up. 

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, the place is still a mess, but at least I was able to find everything on my list this time.  Granted, it wasn't a long list, but still...

I picked up another couple of packets of bluebonnet seeds, and come September, I'm going to plant them all -- including the old ones -- in the little front flower bed by my porch. 

If they don't grow this time...I'll just give up, I guess.  

I also bought myself a new lunch box. 

Don't envy me my exciting life.  

But the zipper on my old one had broken sometime last year, but I managed to jury rig it back together and get a few more months of use out of it.  Then earlier this week, the other zipper broke, and I decided it was time to get a new one. 

You know what else it was time for a new one of?  Yep, and allergy pad for my bed. 

 Again, don't envy me my exciting life.  

And now, since I know you're about to faint from all this excitement, I'll leave you alone and go take a shower. 

Don't envy me....

Done!

The latest charity hat is done! 

Alas, what is not done is contacting a landscaper.  This whole having to go to work thing is really cramping my style.  In the mornings, I have the social energy to interact with someone, but by the time I get home, I'm too tired and stressed to want to.  Yesterday, I even pulled up the FB page of the one I want to hire...then put it back down without even typing out the message.  Today, I didn't even get that far.  I don't know what I'm going to do, but I'm going to have to do something, because my first two raised beds arrived yesterday, and I'll need to have a place to put them. 

 

On a whim, I got out there in that spot this afternoon and measured things out, and I'm going to have room for more raised beds than I thought.  I'll need to get it cleared before I can really start planning, so I can kind of lay things out and see how it all fits and how it's going to look. 

On a similar note, my little basil sprouts are getting bigger by the day.  

I noticed that the ones along the edges looked like they were reaching -- so to speak -- for the light, so this afternoon, I swapped them out with some of the pods closer to the center.  I'll do that every few days to try to keep them all growing evenly.  

That's probably the one negative I have about this particular mini-greenhouse kit:  the grow light can't be adjusted so that it's closer to the little seedlings, thus the ones further away end up a bit leggy.  I guess that's the benefit of those hydroponic sponges.  They can easily be swapped around so that all of the plants can get light.

In other news, they posted that the production areas will be off this Saturday.  Us component areas will have to wait and see.  If we can get our numbers up, we'll be off, too.  How can we get our numbers up when tubing never has anything ready for us?  And how can we keep them up when we're constantly having to send stuff back because it's wrong?

Heh, I may have stepped in it this morning.  The very first order I got this morning had half of the header/manifolds correct and half of them wrong.  I had to take them back over to tubing to be fixed -- which took longer than it did to braze the order once I'd finally gotten the parts corrected. 

But that wasn't the stepping in it part.  When I took the headers over to tubing, I saw The Warden standing in the aisle talking to someone. 

"I ought to go show these to Warden," I said to the tubing operator.  

And that, Gentle Reader, is exactly what I did. 

I showed him, told him what the problem was, and he asked how often things like this happen.  
"Every day!"  I replied.  He said he needs to know about things like this, but if we called him every time something was wrong, his phone would never stop ringing. 

I then told him it gets frustrating, because we can't get ahead when we're constantly having to get parts re-done.  

I went on back to work, finished that order, then the very next order had one of the adapter tubes bent wrong, which I had to send back and get it re-done.  And another  order had an adapter that had been smashed in the machine clamp, but instead of scrapping it and re-doing it, the machine operator had just tossed it into the bend and sent it down the line anyway.  Stuff like that should never be making it all the way to the brazers in the first place. 

Oh, and we had some visitors in the plant today, and for some strange odd reason, The Warden was showing them our scrap bins.  I said something to Group Leader Shark about there must be something more exciting to show them, and she said The Warden ought to be embarrassed about all that scrap laying around because nobody will come stamp the tickets so they can take it out to the scrap dock.  

Well, guess what?  Right after lunch, the Scrap Witch was over there stamping tickets left and right and all that scrap finally got taken out. 

I guess I need to get off of here so I can practice my piano a little before bed.  I think I'm going to stop watching the Let's Play Piano Methods videos, mainly because they're so long.  Most of them are around 15 minutes long, and I wonder how he can yap so much about a song that's only four lines long.  Back when I first started watching his videos, most of them were only around 5 minutes long. 

Besides, I think I'm far enough along I can figure most of it out on my own.  And if I need some help, his videos are always there. 

OK, I really am going now.  

Laters...

LOOKIT!!!!!

Lookit!  My basil seeds are sprouting!!

Squee!  I'm not a seed starting failure after all!  I had every intention of coming home this afternoon and messaging a landscaper to come start getting my garden spot ready, but I didn't.  So I'm still a landscaper messaging failure.  

My problem is that I never know what to say to them.  I know I don't have good people skills, and I've run off other contractors, plumbers, etc. by saying the wrong thing, but I don't know what it is that I'm saying that offends them so.  For example, I never thought saying, "I can't have my phone at work, so leave a message and I'll get back to you as soon as I can" was so off-putting, but apparently that one plumber thought it was, because he never came back.   Anyway, I guess I'm going to have to just take the plunge and hope for the best. 

My new raised beds are supposed to arrive tomorrow, so I need to get started on getting all of this set up. I mean, the whole reason I had the fence guy to enclose that spot is to put a veg patch and herb garden there.  

On a similar note, I got Marty Mac out and trimmed all the dead traps off of him.  

He's looking really good now, and I think I'm going to need to repot him next winter when he goes back into dormancy.  

Alas, it doesn't look like my orange mint is going to come back, though. 

Neither is my lemon verbena, lemon thyme, or sweet mint.  I'll just have to find something else to put into those spots.  

In other news, since we're not expecting any more severe weather for a while, I went ahead and put the fire pit and chairs back outside.  

I think I finally found a good spot for them, at least for now.  It's level, shady for most of the day, and nothing important is growing right there.  Plus, my shed gives me a little more privacy until I can get the rest of the fence installed -- which will require calling the surveyor to come mark the property lines.  

Ugh...

Speaking of weather, they've been slowly releasing the tornado tracks from the most recent outbreak, and this one hit mighty close to home. 

To put it into perspective, the blue dot is me. 

I'm pretty sure that was the one in this photo, taken by one of the local sheriff's deputies just up the road from my house. 

And finally, just so this post isn't a total waste of your time, here is hat progress.  

 I'm just starting the crown decreases, so it'll be finished soon.  

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go start psyching myself up to message the landscaper tomorrow.  Yes, it'll take all night and most of the day...but if you'll all cheer me on, maybe I can get it done. 

Hosannah In The Highest

 1As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, 2saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me.3If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.”

4 This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:

5“Say to Daughter Zion,

‘See, your king comes to you,

gentle and riding on a donkey,

and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’ ”

6The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. 7They brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on. 8A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted,

“Hosanna to the Son of David!”

“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”

“Hosanna in the highest heaven!”

10When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is this?”

11The crowds answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”

Matthew 21: 1-11