Didn’t Happen

Remember all those things I said yesterday that I was going to do today?  Not a single one of them got done. Not one.  

Not even sleeping past 2:30 AM.  Oh, I intended to, but when that alarm went off and I switched it off then rolled over to go back to sleep, I didn't.  Go back to sleep, I mean.  I laid there for a while and dozed a bit, but never went back into a good, deep sleep.  

Along about 4:30, I gave up and got up.

I made myself some coffee, read a couple of chapters in my book, and didn't do much else, because that cold I felt like I was catching finally caught me.  I know the flu has been going around, but I don't think that's what I have.  This feels like your regular garden variety head cold.  

So, basically, I sat in the chair all day, watching TV -- there's a new season of Miss Scarlett And The Duke up on PBS -- and knitting. 

This hat is almost ready for the crown decreases, finally.  It seems like I've been working on it forever.  Of course, I've taken some breaks to do a charity hat and a couple of cowls, but I'm done with those, and this is now my top priority.  

Once it's done, I'm going to cake up and cast on with some of the new yarn I bought last month at the thing in Oxford.  And in two weeks, it'll be Fiber Fun In The 'Sip!  I've decided I'm not going to go early, so it'll just be a day trip for me. 

Other than my sinuses feeling like they're about to explode, this has been an absolutely gorgeous day.  Partly cloudy and warm enough I was able to open the windows and get some fresh air into the house.  Which is probably part of my problem.  Spring allergies and all. 

And yes, the flowers are starting to bloom. Here is a patch of purple deadnettle and and some ground ivy-- both of which are very valuable to the bees and butterflies.  So much so, I don't even mow my back yard until the deadnettle dies back.    

That's part of why I was so upset when that guy cut my yard last year.  That, and the fact that he came onto my property without permission, which I could have filed criminal tresspassing charges against him.  

This is spring beauty, sometimes called Virginia beauty. 

And henbit, which is delicious, by the way.   

Alas, Big Al was right and we have another couple of cold snaps on the way, but they'll be OK.  These, on the other hand, will have to come back into the house for a little while longer. 

And look at this crazy thing putting out another bud.  

They often bloom again in the spring, which is  why I call them Whatever Cactus.  Also, you can see below the Whatever Cactus my Venus Fly Trap, Marty Mac.  

As in Marty MacFLY.  Get it?  

OK, moving right along...He normally spends winter dormancy in the crisper drawer in my refrigerator, and when he starts showing signs of coming out of dormancy, I get him out and start warming him up.  Which is what I did today.  

Then I noticed how gunky my crisper drawers had gotten, so I pulled them out and gave them a good cleaning.   I really need to give the whole refrigerator a good once over, but that's going to have to wait until I feel better.  

You know what else didn't get done today that I didn't mention? Of course you don't, because I didn't mention it.  

When I was cleaning out my deep freeze last weekend, I found a whole container of sweet potatoes already boiled down and mashed.  I was going to make a sweet potato pie, because I have an extra pie crust left over from Thanksgiving, but I just didn't feel like it.  Plus, it was so hot by then, I didn't want to heat up the house by turning on my oven, so I ... um...turned on the oven to make the pizza I'd bought yesterday.  

Welcome to my crazy world.  

Maybe tomorrow, I'll make the pie.   Right now, I've got more knitting to do and TV to watch. 

Laters. 

Just When You Thought

 it was safe to go back into the factory, the drama just keeps on coming.  

I don't even know what started it all, but it was a doozy.  See, two of the new hire brazers got mad over the amount they are getting paid.  I don't know all the details, but the way it works is when you get hired, you're put on probation for the first several months.  You get paid a probationary wage, then every so often, you get what they call step-up raises.  Once you've made it through the probation period, you start earning the standard wage for your position.  

Well, apparently these two decided that they shouldn't have to go through the probation and should be able to skip to the end and start earning the regular starting wage.  When they found out they couldn't, they both grabbed their stuff and left.  Maybe they'll be back on Monday.  Maybe they won't.  I guess we'll see. 

The one I call The Mouth kept saying she made such and such amount at her old job, but only makes such and such here.  So, why didn't she stay at her old job?  I said, "Well, if she worked there like she works where -- which is not at all-- she probably got fired."  

Seriously, before she left today, she brazed six headers in two hours.  Six.  And that is typical of her.  I've often said if she ran her stand as much as she runs her mouth, she'd actually get something done.  The department got mighty quiet after they left, but we still got just as much done without them. 

They weren't the only ones who left early today.  A lot of the people who had come to day shift last year when they shut down second shift had gotten comfortable, and didn't want to go back.  There was a constant stream of people going to Cuz and the HR director all day long, and a bunch of them left.  I guess we shall see.  

I hadn't planned on going into town today, because I have plenty of food at home, but I remembered I needed to pay my house note, so I went anyway.  Since I was there anyway, I ran by Walmart and bought a sweet banana pepper plant and a tabasco pepper plant. 

A couple of years ago, Cody had said something about making home made pepper sauce.  I don't remember if he was using tabasco or some other kind of pepper, but I thought he might want to try it with these.  Now my little pepper bed is complete.  I have two spots left in my partial-shade bed, but haven't decided what to put into them.  

I'm telling you, this rain we had today really brought out the mock strawberries, so after I had nestled my new pepper plants into their new home, I made myself a salad of American Plantain garnished with mock strawberries. 

To be honest, the strawberries don't have much flavor, but the plantain is dee-lish-us.  You have to make sure you get the tender new leaves from the center of the plant, because the larger leaves can be tough and they get those stringy veins in them.  They're better for eating cooked, but I haven't tried that yet.  

In other news, the gastroenterology clinic finally called and I got my colonoscopy scheduled.  I was trying to text Cody to let him know the details, and I kept messing up.  I mean, really messing up.  I was getting so frustrated, and exclaimed, "Why is this so hard?"  

That's when I realized my phone's keyboard was set to French.  

That explains a lot. 

Goodbye Winter

Happy last day of winter/first day of spring!  

Yep, spring officially arrives sometime around 10:00 PM central time tonight, but winter decided it wasn't going out without one last hurrah...so to speak. 

Good job I brought my plants inside last night, as there was a pretty thick layer of frost on top of the garbage can when I took the trash out this morning.  However, by the time I got home, the temps were up into the low 60s, and we're not expecting any freezes any time soon, so back outside into the sunshine they went.  

I'd planned on starting to put my sunflowers out after this cold snap anyway, and to do that, the first thing I had to do was start clearing a few weeds.  

Most of what was in there was ground ivy, and I'd thought for a moment I'd clear it all out -- at least of the flower bed part, but plan that came to a screeching halt when I saw a little honey bee buzzing from flower to flower. 

"I won't take all your food," I said to the little bee and cleared just enough to plant the two biggest sunflower seedlings. 

Now they are safely tucked into the flower bed, and covered with their cloches. 

I have four more cloches, so I may put four more plants out in their little pots and cover them with the cloches until I can get them a space cleared and get them planted.  

Most of the weeds I pulled up got put into the compost, but I decided to begin drying some of the purple deadnettle.  It is a member of the mint family, so it's both edible and medicinal, and I think it'll be beneficial to have some on hand after it dies back for the year.  The downside is I don't really like the taste that much.  It'll be good flavoring for soups and smoothies and such, but it's not something I could sit and eat by itself, like in a salad.  I've also read that brewing it into a tea will help with seasonal allergies, especially if you sweeten it with local honey.    Hmmm, maybe I'll try some here in a bit. 

That was all I did today, because I didn't sleep well at all last night.  It was one of those nights...I was so tired and went to bed early, but couldn't fall asleep for anything.  Last time I looked at the clock, it was after 11:00.   

I've never understood that.  All day yesterday, I was so tired my brain wouldn't even function, but the minute I got into bed, all I did was toss and turn.  As a result, I'm even less functional today.  I think I'll just take a shower and go to bed early again.  

Laters. 

Wiped Out

Man, I'm totally wiped out!  I came home after work and mowed -- just the front and the side yard, though.  Then I weedeated.  I'm telling you, me and my weedeater do not get along.  At all.  Before it was all said and done, I was telling it I hated it in French.  But I persevered and got the job done.  Good thing, too, as it's supposed to start raining sometime Friday evening, and well....just see for yourself. 

On a completely unrelated note, I bought some iced coffees last Friday.  I do that every so often, especially if I have an ibotta rebate for them.  Anyway, these were two new flavors and I wanted to try them.  I was going to take one to work Monday, but as you can see, I decided at the last moment, I'd rather have hot coffee. 

I hadn't even fixed the coffee pot, so I had to do that in a hurry.  It was worth it, though.  

By the way, I got my planter outside and filled up with soil Sunday, but still haven't made it into town to buy anything to put into it.   I keep saying I'm going to go after work, but then stuff happens and I don't.  I was going to go Monday, but something happened that I don't want to talk about here, and I just didn't.  Nothing happened to me, but well...someone important to this community died.  Even though I didn't know him personally, he was well respected. 

Then I was going to go yesterday, but it was 5 & 2 day, and The Chosen was doing a livestream and offering big discounts in the gift shop...and I spent way too much money.  I was going to go today, but decided I needed to get the mowing done.  I won't go tomorrow, because by then, I just might as well wait until my regular shopping day on Friday.     

Oh, by the way, this is your homework assignment.  See this plant:  

This is plantain -- not to be confused with the banana-like fruit.  Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to go find one of these plants.  Make sure it's from a safe source, as in it hasn't been sprayed with pesticide or herbicide.  Plants away from the road are best.  Pick one of the small, tender leaves from the center of the plant, wash it off and taste it.  

Oh my goodness that stuff is so good!  I've been trying to kill it off for years, and here I've had the tastiest salad right there growing wild in my back yard.  It can also be cooked, but I haven't tried it cooked yet.  

And finally, I finished this hat, 

and cast on another with the same yarn.  Which I will now go and work on.  

Laters...

My Attempt At A Vlog

Today was an absolutely gorgeous day.  Sunny and warm, but not too hot, and a good breeze blowing to boot.  It was a good day to put my raised bed outside, and that's exactly what I did. 

As you can see, I ended up putting in inside the fence anyway, and as you can also see, my first plant is pussy willows.  Heh...I'll see myself out...

No, but seriously, my biggest concern in putting it inside the fence was getting it far enough way from the eave of the house that the runoff from the rain won't pound my plants into mush.  If you look carefully, you can see the slight trench said runoff has dug into the ground.  I've marked it with a flag to make it easier to see. 

I'm hoping the planter is far enough away that it won't interfere with anything planted in it. 

Once I got it situated and leveled -- yes, I really did get my level out and check it -- I filled it up with my garden soil and we are off to the races. 

No, your eyes aren't deceiving you.  That dirt is two different colors.  I'd bought two bags of Expert Gardener brand, and it wasn't quite enough to fill the whole bed, so I topped it off with a little bit of Miracle Gro that I had laying around.  I'm not sure if it's so much darker because it was wet or what, but it is what it is, and what it is is dirt. 

The first two things I planted in it are a couple of wild onions and some wood sorrel. 

My wood sorrel isn't looking too good.  I'm hoping it's just a bit of transplant shock, and it'll perk up after a day or two.  I'm not too worried about the onions, as they'll probably get eaten before too much longer anyway.    

As you can see, I've got lots of room left for other herbs and such. 

I'm leaning towards rosemary, lavender, and thyme.  But nothing is set in stone just yet.  Heck, I might even plant some flowers in it -- edible ones, of course.  Or maybe even some vegetables.  I don't know, but you'll be here with me every step of the way. 

And finally, here is another attempt at doing a vlog.  It's just raw video, as I don't have any editing software, and probably wouldn't know how to use it if I did.  Kindly ignore the quiet parts.  I forgot I was supposed to be speaking. 

Let me know what you think, and if you want to see more stuff like this, or even if you don't.  Feedback and constructive criticism is always welcome. 

Lazy Sunday

 Man, let me tell you, after a week of tossing and turning and sleeping fitfully, I slept good last night.  And it was wonderful!

I wish I knew what I did, because I'd for sure do it every night.  It might have helped that it got cold again -- down into the mid 40s.  It would have been a good morning for a fire, if only my firewood guy hadn't ghosted me. 

Seriously, I don't know what I'm doing wrong.  I'm not trying to stalk him or anything.  I just want some firewood.  I'm sure it's me, too, because this has happened way too often with contractors, plumbers, lawn care people, other firewood guys...even the guy who was supposed to fix the ruts in my front yard caused by a school bus (?).  He said he'd come fix them.  He just never showed up.  

All that to say, I had no firewood, so I had no fire.  I supposed I could have scraped up enough twigs and stuff to have a small fire, I just didn't feel like going through all that.  

Well, now we come to that part of a Sunday afternoon where I wonder where in the heck my weekend went, and what did I even do?  Did I get anything accomplished?  Fortunately, this time, I can say, yes I did.  I finished a hat, 

then I cast on another one. 

For this one, I decided to use up a partial ball of yarn I had originally put into the donation bag.  I knew it wouldn't be enough for a whole hat, but I plan on joining the skein when I get to the end.   Heh, now that I'm knitting for my Seaman's Church Ministry instead of selfish coworkers, I'm actually enjoying it again.  

The only downside is that the Crestor I'm taking makes me get sore so much more easily than I used to.  My follow up doctor appointment is Tuesday, and I'm definitely going to bring it up to him and see what he thinks, and if there is something he can do about it -- maybe lower my dose or something.  I don't know.  I'll have to see what he says. 

I think after my appointment, I might run by Walmart and pick up some plants to put into the skinny little flower bed right in front of my porch, and maybe some vincas for the big bed.  Speaking of, I suppose my big accomplishment of the weekend was to get my back yard mowed.  Woo Hoo!

It was a lot of work, but I managed to skirt the bigger of my patches of clover and two big patches of fleabane daisy -- for the bees and butterflies, you know.  

I also left my patch of yellow flowers, though I didn't get a photo.  I thought I did, but apparently not.  Honestly, I wouldn't mind if those things took over my whole back yard, I love them so much.  

By the way, I think I figured out what this thing is.  

I think it might be a species of millet or something that was in the bags of birdseed I buy.  I found a whole bunch more over by the fence, near where the bird feeder used to be.  Some of them even had grain heads developing, but I was merciless and mowed them down anyway.  All but that one above, which is near my shed.  

Oh, and look at this!  My mock strawberries are making fruit!

I mean, they always had, but I'd just assumed they were ornamental, like the ornamental peppers my grandma used to plant in her flower beds.   I ate one of them, and it wasn't bad, but it wasn't great, either.  I also tasted a bit of my dollar weed, and it was pretty good.  It tasted like something I'd put into a salad, whereas the ground ivy is way too strong to eat plain like that.  And I pulled up some good sized wild onions that I'm going to chop up and put into some chicken salad that I will probably make tomorrow afternoon after work. 

I may even boil down the chicken carcass and add some ground ivy to give it some flavor.  We'll see. 

Almost Late

I was almost late to work this morning, because I forgot what time I had to be there.

In my defense, though, they’ve changed our hours so much these last few weeks, it’s no wonder I got confused.  I didn't even know what time it was, much less what time I had to be at work.  

So, there I was in my kitchen tidying up, when I said to myself, “Let me go practice my piano a few minutes before I have to leave.” 

I put on my glasses and looked at the clock to see how much practice time I had, and it was already past time I’d normally leave the house.  I hurriedly got my things together and left for work, looking at the clock all the while, thinking, "5:30?  It's 5:30?  What time is 5:30?  What time am I supposed to be there?  6:00...yeah, that's it.  6:00." 

All confusion aside, I made it to work on time and the day passed without incident.  Except for the parts I had which did not spark joy.  

Speaking of confusion, I go through this thing every weekend.  What it is is, I'm sitting there along about 4:30 PM on Sunday afternoon and I suddenly realize my weekend is almost over, and what have I done all weekend?  Did I get anything accomplished?  What did I do?  I don't even remember what I did all weekend, so how did it go by so fast?  

Well, for this weekend, the answer is pretty much no, I didn't really get anything accomplished.  I mowed Friday and I'm getting too old for this nonsense because I spent the rest of the weekend so sore I could hardly move.   I spent a lot of time watching TV, and oh, by the way, I got Prime to work using my little adapter thingy.  All I've got left to do now is to drag the entertainment center out from the wall and get the router unplugged so I can take it back to the cable company, then I'll be done with cable internet.  Probably for good.  

If I get it again, I'll see if I can get one of those hot spot things from the phone company.  Heh, remember when you had to go down to the phone company and get the disc to get onto the internet?  Then you had to wait for it to dial up and it made that noise?  Remember Dixie-net?  That was my first internet.  Man, that seems so long ago.    

I suppose the big news is -- regarding what I did over the weekend, I mean -- I splurged and bought the last book of my series I've been reading, Silver On The Tree. 

This is one of those series you just can't put down, but at the same time hate to see it end.   I don't particularly care for that cover art, though.  The original was so much better.  The original hardbacks also had illustrations, which the Kindle versions don't include.  I wish they did.  They were simple line drawings, but added so much charm to the books. 

I also spent a bit more time looking through this book.

I'm really liking this one, and it's definitely a keeper.  I like the way it's got a little map on each photo showing the range of that particular plant. 

Then beside the description of the plant, it's got these handy symbols so you can see at a glance what that plant can be used for.

 

For example, this one can be used as a seasoning, hot tea, cold beverage, salad ingredient, a thickener for soups, and jelly.  Pretty cool, huh?  

While we're on the subject of foraging, I got brave over the weekend and tasted a bit of my ground ivy.  I didn't particularly care for the taste just as it is, but it will be great used as a seasoning in soups or even on potatoes or something.  One of the websites describe the taste as a blend of mint and sage, and I'd say that's pretty accurate.  It's a very strong flavor, so it should be used sparingly.  

The only other wild edible I've fooled with -- other than my wood sorrel, I mean -- are these onions I pulled this afternoon.

I've got a couple more big patches that I want to dig up, but that's all I'm going to get for now until I figure out what I want to do with them.  No point in pulling them if I'm just going to let them rot in the crisper drawer.  I can buy store bought onions for that.   

But enough of that.  Here is a nice surprise I found in my front bed this afternoon. 

It's a bachelor's button that seeded from one I'd planted last year.  I've got a couple more with buds on them.  It would be great if I could get them established and re-seeding every year.  

And I found this in the back yard.  It looks like grass, but has a grain head.  

It actually looks like a wheat plant, only short.  It's maybe 2 ft tall.  There is only one, but I'm going to let it grow and see what comes of it.  

Last but certainly not least, I want a raised garden bed.  Not the ones that are like a foot off the ground, but one like this:

Maybe not exactly like that, but similar.  I want to grow a small herb garden, but I'm getting too old to be getting down on the ground and all.  I'm not sure yet what I want to put into my herb garden, but I'm definitely leaning towards rosemary and lavender. 

I'm wanting herbs I can make tea with, since I don't really cook that much.  Maybe I'll put my wood sorrel into it, so I don't have to worry about mowing it down.  

Eh, I'll figure it out later.  Right now, I need to go practice the piano, since I didn't get to this morning. 

Laters. 

Monday's Ugly Sister

Even with all its problems -- parts messed up, shorthandedness, etcetera -- yesterday went by pretty quickly.  Today was a much better day, but ironically enough it just seemed to drag.   Plus it was hot again, so that just made things all the worse. 

It wasn't just me, either.  I had several coworkers looking repeatedly at the clock throughout this interminable day.  But at long last, the interminable day terminated and 

I got stuck in road construction...again.  They've been working on the highway near my house for nearly two weeks now, and unfortunately there is no other way to get to my road.  After work, I just want to get home, but no.  I have to sit in road construction.  Not for long, mind you -- maybe 5 minutes, but still.  

I just want to get home. 

I'll be so glad when they're done. 

Once I got home, I had the bright idea that I'd mow at least the side and back yards before the next round of rain came through.  Alas, it was not to be.  Turns out I didn't have any gas, either in the mower or in the gas can, and I wasn't about to go fight my way through road construction just to mow.  

Oh well, I didn't really want to mow anyway.  

OK, how's about a knitting update.  This is the hat I'm working on now.  

It'll be going to the Seaman's church ministry when I'm finished with it.  I think I might have enough of this yarn to knit at least one more, too.  

By the way, I watched a really good movie over the weekend called Mrs. Palfrey At The Claremont.  I watched it on Prime/FreeVee, but it may be available on other platforms, I don't know.  I highly recommend it.  Fair warning, you will need tissues.  Yeah verily, even your stony hearted blogger needed a tissue or two before it was all over. 

Speaking of tissues, I'm watching Diane Sawyer's interview with Jeremy Renner about his horrific accident back in January.  It's an absolute miracle he lived through that.  Hawkeye was my favorite Avenger as it is, so there were moments in there that I teared up ...just a bit. 

And finally, Google Lens wasn't much help in identifying this plant, so can any of my faithful readers help me out?  

It's a bushy type of plant, and it's got tiny purple flowers on it, and I'm talking maybe 1/4" wide, if that.  Maybe when a few more have opened up, it'll be easier to identify.   I'm thinking it might be a Cut - Leaved Crane's bill, but I'm not 100% sure on that.  If it is, it's a medicinal plant, so it can stay.  

I'll have to mark it somehow, so I don't accidentally mow it down.  Whenever I get around to mowing, that is...if it ever stops raining, I mean...

My Monday

 "Before you even ask",  I told my supervisor as he came around to pick up our paperwork at the end of the work day, " I'm going home and eating ice cream straight from the carton."

Which was a lie, but only because I don't have any ice cream.  If I did, that's absolutely what I'd have done. 

And no I did not come home and eat an entire dozen snickerdoodles, either.  

"Aw," he replied, "it can't have been that bad."  It can and it was.  Shorthanded, bad parts, incomplete orders all day long...We were so shorthanded they put one of the parts stagers on a machine.  I guess every one wanted a long weekend -- and just decided to take one.  

The day is not a total loss, though.  During one of the storms the other week, I had some branches fall in my yard.  I've been saying ever since that I was going to get out and get them up, after I sit down for a minute.  But you know, once I sit, I don't get back up.  This afternoon, I finally got them moved out of the middle of the yard.  I'd intended to cut some of the larger branches up for firewood, but I didn't get that far.  

What I did do is use Google Lens and positively identify another plant.  This one is Mock Strawberry. 

It is still edible, but not as tasty as real strawberries.  

You know, I'm so tired I can't even think, so I'm just going to end this right here and go take a shower.  

Good night, all. 

What On Earth?

 What on earth is that?  

You see it up there?  That blue stuff?  What is that?

The sky?   No, skies are supposed to be gray, with water falling everywhere.  Just kidding!  No really, I'm only half joking.  It's rained so much these last two weeks I'd almost forgotten what a blue sky looks like.  The ground is so saturated, the water won't even soak in any more.  It just sits there, turning stagnant and growing mosquitoes.

But, according to the forecast, we aren't supposed to get any more rain until Thursday, so maybe my yard will finally dry out enough that I can mow.  It badly needs it.  I'm not overly concerned about mowing down my edible weeds, because... well, they're weeds.  They'll grow back.  Indeed, I can't seem to get rid of them no matter how hard I try.  Scott's Turf Builder Weed & Feed every six months has had absolutely no effect on them, so I figure I might as well put them to use.  And what with the economy the way it is, I'll take all the free food I can get.  

Speaking of, I found a recipe on line for dandelion jelly, so I've started picking dandelion flowers for that.  That may just be what everyone gets for Christmas this year.  I also wanted to make some violet syrup, but I think I waited too late in the year to start picking violets, as the blooms are starting to get a bit thin.  As in, not many left.  I may have to store what I have and collect more next spring.  I'll have to research the best way to do that.  Right now, I've got them in a Ziploc bag in the freezer.  That ought to keep them for now at least. 

I've also found a couple of recipes to make jelly out of all the clover I've got growing in my yard.  It's all white clover, but I want some red clover as well.  There's plenty of that growing up by the interstate, but I can't very well go and just pick that, now can I?  

FYI, if you see a shadowy figure plucking red clover, I was never there...

By the way, I finally figured out how to use Google Lens, which has helped me identify some of the stuff growing in my yard.  I want to make absolutely sure of what I'm putting into my mouth, lest I accidentally poison myself.  We don't want that...

In knitting news, I finished the hat I've been working on, and cast on another, but haven't taken a photo of that one yet. 

Sharp eyed readers might notice I've got the aforementioned hat in a different chair for this photo.  That's because the cat wouldn't get out of the one I normally use.   I said, "Fine!  I'll just put it on top of you!" 

But she didn't like that and began clawing at the hat.  Nope, I've worked too hard on that hat to allow you to snag it all up with your stupid claws!  So, to another chair we went.  That'll show her. 

Since it is mid April now, and all the meteorologists agree that there will be no more frosts until Autumn, I took a chance and moved my indoor plants outdoors. 

I lost one of my Whatever cacti.  I don't know what went wrong.  It was growing just fine, then all of the sudden, it wilted and died.  Bummer, as it was the one with the pale yellowish blooms that I took from one James had.  

One I'd gotten all the plants back outside, I moved the cat's steps back in front of the door, so she can lay there and look out the window. 

I guess that's about all I have for today, so for the three of you who still read my drivel, I hope you had a very happy and blessed Easter.

I Broke Down

I broke down and turned my air conditioner on when I got home this afternoon.  It wasn't even that hot in the house, but it's been so muggy what with all the rain we've had recently.   You want to know where it has been hot?  

My work area.  

That's part of why I turned on my a/c at home.  I have to be hot at work.  I'm not going to be hot at home. 

Speaking of rain, that last round of storms -- you know, the one that caught me by surprise -- did a number on Marty Mac.  I'd had him out on the front porch, but I guess he was too close to the eave, and the driving rain washed a lot of his soil out of the pot.  One of the first things I did today was to get out and essentially re-pot him. 

I lifted him up to the top of the pot, and replaced the washed away soil, then trimmed the dead and dying traps off.  He looks much better now.  He looks way better than he did when I first got him, just over a year ago.  By the way, it's perfectly normal for traps to die off after a while, and new traps grow in to replace the dead ones, so that's nothing to worry about.

OK, remember back a few weeks ago when I cut my contributions to my 401(k) back and I said I'd start getting emails nagging me that I wasn't saving enough?  Yep, I called that one.  The very first paycheck after the change showed up, I got one.  You aren't saving enough.  Your mix isn't aggressive enough...

Yes, I know that, but I can't worry about retirement if I can't keep the lights on now!  But I probably will raise my contribution amount a bit anyway, since we're getting this little bit of overtime.  I'm also still debating on cutting off my internet.  I'm thinking I may put it in vacation mode for a month, just to see if I can get by without it.  I mean, I'll still have my phone data and hot spot, so I won't be completely cut off.  I think my dependence is more psychological than anything at this point.  

On a related note, did you know all that ground ivy I've been trying to kill for years is edible?  

I do now.  The ground ivy, the cannas, even the day lilies.  All this stuff I've been trying so hard to kill is all edible.  I have a veritable supermarket right there in my back yard.  I've still got a few more plants I need to positively identify before I start chowing down, but I'm well on my way to being able to forage for food.  Which reminds me, I need to get out and pick some violets before they stop flowering.   And I want to move some from the big patch out by my utility pole into the back yard, and try to get my stuff a bit more organized.  

All of this almost makes me not want to mow.  Not that I can anyway.  I went out and checked my front yard and it's still way too muddy, and we've got more rain on the way.   Sometime, I've got to get someone to bring some dirt and fill in the low spots in my front yard, but that's money I can't afford to spend right now.