Relief Is In Sight!

Look what I found!  

Do you know what that is????  It's a spider lily!  The first harbinger of Fall!  Oh, it's still hot outside and will be for several days yet, but spider lilies mean relief is in sight.  I'm so ready for it, too.  

It's hitting differently this year, because I want to be outside working in my garden when I've usually been content to sit inside watching TV and knitting.  It's just frustrating that the heat is keeping me from doing what I want to.  

Speaking of, I cast on a new sailor hat. 

Yarn:  Hobby Lobby I Love This Yarn

Colorway:  Day Dreamery

Pattern:  Basic Beanie

Needles:  US 8 / 5 mm

I'm thinking about casting something on with some of that fun fur I found in the shed yesterday, but don't know what.  All I've ever made with it has been scarves.  I'm open to ideas. 

I'm going to have to take it easy the next few days, so I'll have plenty of time to knit.  I've spent too much time here lately digging and lifting and doing heavy work.  This morning, the plan was to dig down to my native soil in the spot I'm going to put my hot compost bin. 

I'd tried to do that yesterday, but the ground was too hard, and so it was again today.  I got my hose and soaked it a bit, but it was still too hard to dig by hand, so I got out the old roto-tiller and put it to work.

It was tough even for that thing.  At first, it just bounced off the dirt, but I persisted and finally got the clay dug out.   Mostly down to the native soil and fairly level. 

Once that was done, I drilled holes in the bottom of the garbage can I'd bought so earthworms and microbes can find their way in.  The video I'd watched said to put seven, but my can was a bit flimsy, so I only put five. 

I was afraid if I put too many, the bottom wouldn't hold up.  Eh, it was a cheap can, but it'll do for now.  

Next step was to seed the bin with compost from one of my other piles, which should have enough microbes to get it started.  

What with it being so dry here lately and all, I have to give my compost a good watering when I'm watering the beds so it won't die, so I did that before I put the lid on it.   

Before I put the roto-tiller up, I started trying to level the spot I want to put my three round beds into. 

Again, the poor tiller just bounced off that hard, dry ground.  I got that spot a little bit leveled, but I'm going to have to wait until it's rained a bit before I continue.  This is pretty much where I plan on putting these three beds.  It's almost level but not like I want it. 

I've mentioned before that I want at least a two bay compost system, preferably three.  But two will do for now.  Last night, as I was laying in bed, I said to myself, "Self, you've got those two big green bins out in the shed that you were going to throw away.  You can use those."  

That's exactly what I did.  I'd already cleaned one out last year and used it to store old potting soil in, which I've used all of that up since then.  I got that one first and drilled holes in the bottom of it. 

Then I moved the compost pile that was on the ground into that one, and set the other bin -- after I'd drilled holes in it as well- next to it. 

That will be for fresh stuff, and after about six months to a year, it'll be broken down enough to move into the second bin.  But I expect you don't want to hear all of that.  The last thing I did was to cover the bins to keep the critters, mainly my cat, out of my compost.  

She seems to think my compost pile is her own personal litter box.  But I did drill holes in the lid so oxygen could get into the bins.  

Soon, I'll go out and chop down my old tomato and pepper plants, but I got one last good banana pepper harvest before that happens. 

I'm not sure what I'm going to do with these.  I bought some more canning jars, so I'll probably make pickled peppers out of them.  Those have much more usefulness than pepper jelly, but I do want to make some more of that, too.  I'll use some of my frozen peppers for that.  

At this point, I've got so many banana peppers, I might not even plant any next year.  That will free up at least one bed for something else.  I'm leaning towards yellow squash and sweet potatoes. 

And finally, I'm almost ready to call the clean up man.  Not mentally, mind you.  But the shed is just about where I want it to be.  Another day or two and it will be ready.  

Now I'll just have to get myself ready.  That's the hard part...
 

Happy Fall, Y'all!

Did you know that there are actually three first days of Fall?  It's true.  Let me explain. 

The one most people know about is Astronomical Fall, which is based on the Autumnal Equinox.  This year, that day is September 22.  

There is another one that isn't as well known as it is mostly observed in the weather geek community.  That is Meteorological Fall, which starts on September 1.  Also known as today. 

But there is another one that almost nobody knows about:  Traditional Fall.  What is traditional Fall?  Well, since Labor Day traditionally marks the end of summer, then logically the day after that would be the traditional first day of fall.  See what I did there?  

Fall lovers rejoice!  We get to celebrate three times a year, so let me be the...dozenth or so to say: 

Happy first day of Fall!  

Even though it's still 100° out there...

(Not my photo.  I copped it from the internet.)

Rough Day

Following a largely sleepless night last night, today was a rough day all around.  It seems like all the parts I got were bad -- not bad enough to get re-cut, but just bad enough to make my job a struggle.  All day long.  I told my coworker, "I'm not going to be able to move my hands tomorrow!" after I saw her over at her stand shaking her own hands.  

Beats the heck out of me.  Group Leader Shark stands up every day in our morning meeting and says to do our first piece inspections, but apparently the ones who do adapter tubes don't seem to think she's talking to them.  Especially that one... as soon as we see that one clock number on the parts ticket, we know right away those parts are going to be wrong. 

As much as we complain, they won't do anything about it.  Well, nothing but blame the brazers for being too slow.  On the other hand, if they employees won't take pride in doing a good job, there really isn't that much anyone can do about it.  It's not like GLS can stand over each of them all day.  Not that she would, anyway.

Even so, I think next time I get some parts that are as far off as the ones I had today, I'm going to take them to Inspector Gadget and say, "YOU go explain to [Forrestina Gumpette] what a 90° bend is!"

As if that weren't enough, my nose picked today to ooze.  All day long.  Man, I got so tired of it, I told my coworker I was going to come home and cut my nose off, so if you see me walking around tomorrow with no nose, you'll know why. 

On a similar note, I spent the entire day trying to psych myself up to call another tree company, but before the work day even ended, I felt my resolve weakening, and you guessed it.  I didn't make the call.  I don't understand why this is so difficult.  I mean, I'm an introvert and we hate the telephone anyway, but it still shouldn't be this hard to pick up the phone and call someone.  

Oh, and in fairness, I went to the 811 website to request a scan, but it said not to do it more than 10 days ahead of time, so I just left it for now.  Because I still have to call the surveyor, then decide if I'm going to use the same fencing company, and I'll probably have to hire someone to grind the stumps in the fence line -- and that brings us back to making phone calls and one of those will have to be to a tree service.  

Sigh...

To lighten things up a bit, here is a pretty picture I lifted from the interwebs.  I'd give due credit if I knew who took it.  

And finally, today is September 17, and we all know what that means.  At least, my readers do!  It's Constitution Day.  In honor of that, here is a classic Schoolhouse Rock.  

By the way, to this day, I cannot recite the Preamble without singing it.  And in the spirit of it being Constitution Day, I signed up for PragerU's course on understanding the Constitution, so I'm going to get off of here, take a quick shower, then do lesson 1. 

Laters. 

For The Haters

This is for all you haters out there.  

For everyone saying Fall doesn't start until September 22nd.  For all of you saying to put the pumpkin spice down and the decorations back into the closet.  

Nature says you're wrong, Karen!  I've got spider lilies blooming.  It's Fall!  

Not only that, it was a brisk 58° when I got up this morning -- just right for a hot cup of coffee and a blanket on my lap as I sat in my chair savoring the morning, knowing I had another full day of football to look forward to.  

I thought briefly about putting a little fire in the fire pit and sitting outside for a while, but didn't.  The storm that came through yesterday morning blew the cover off and all the wood that was still inside was soaking wet.  I didn't figure it would light, and didn't want to struggle with it, so I'll give it a few more days to dry out.  

I also thought about getting my fake fireplace heater out, but it wasn't really cold enough for that and it didn't occur to me until just now that I could turn the fire lights on without turning the heat on.  Oh well...the air conditioner is running now and I don't think I could handle that dichotomy. 

That's almost as unsettling as seeing Micah Parsons in a Green Bay uniform.  But let's not talk about that.  Let's talk about something much more pleasant.  

Knitting!  

The latest hat is coming along nicely, but I think I'm going to have to make the orange stripe a bit wider than I'd originally intended. 

I'm not sure I'll have enough of the green -- yes, that is green, not gray despite what your monitor might tell you-- to finish if I don't.  Heh, I might have to make a tiny bit of orange at the very top.  We'll see how it goes. 

By the way, I lied to you yesterday when I showed you that photo and said it's all the worsted weight I have left.  I forgot I had all of this in a project bag.  

 I can get quite a few more hats done before I need to buy more.  

Good thing football season has started.  I'll have plenty of time to sit and knit.  Which is what I'm going to go do right now.  

Laters.  

I Labored

I labored today, which is appropriate what with it being Labor Day and all.  

But first, let me just say I hate waiting on people.  Today was the day the scrap metal people were supposed to show up, but as of this writing there has been no sign of them.  Basically, I've been waiting all day, but I decided -- knowing how people can be -- that I was going to carry on with my plans as normal, and if they catch me with frizzy hair and no bra, then so be it.  However, I didn't drag out the roto-tiller, because I didn't want to be covered in mud if they should happen to come. 

And what exactly did I carry on with?  I've been making a start on cleaning out my shed.  That's why I have all this scrap metal in the first place, because the shed tends to be where I stuff junk to deal with later.  There really isn't all that much in it, but it's so unorganized and haphazard, I can hardly get into the aforementioned shed. There is a guy here who does that type of cleanup, and he's on the list of people I need to contact, but as I said yesterday, I can't multitask.  

I also made a start in putting out my Fall decorations, which means I hung one wreath.   

I'll get it all done eventually, right now I'm just not feeling it.  By the way, I only put this photo first because many of you won't click on a link if the thumbnail is ....a box of dirt. 

Women's size 9 croc knockoff included for scale.  

And where did all of that dirt come from?  Well, I'll tell you.  In cleaning out the shed, I found so many pots -- plant pots I mean -- that were cracked or otherwise unusable.  I rounded up all of those pots, plus several that were still in good shape, and dumped all of the potting soil into this box.  This is where my sifter things came in handy, because most of them had rocks in the bottom for drainage.  

I don't know if putting rocks in pots is strictly necessary, but my mother always did it, so I did it, too.  But then, my mother had such a black thumb she couldn't grow mold on month old spaghetti, so I might not do it in the future.   On the other hand, once I get my raised bed garden set up, I probably won't have too many plants in pots anyway.  I may give the other ones away, provided people actually show up to get them.  

Speaking of, I got the side pieces of one of my raised beds and laid them out beside the fence, just to see how it would fit.  

It looks like I'll be able to get three beds across that length of fence, once I get them all in place.  Well, bought first, then put into place.  I still need to level that spot out a bit more before I start putting beds together and all, which I would have done this morning, but....  

Did I mention I hate waiting for people?  Oh, and I have two stadium seats that have been waiting for ten days for someone to come pick them up, and I know by this time she's not coming, but I don't want to advertise them again because of the constant no-shows.  

But I digress....

Look what else I found when I was cleaning?  It's an old water bowl from one of the snake tanks.  

I filled it and put it beside the house for now, but it will eventually go into one of my raised beds, as will these:

One is an aquarium ornament cave, and the other came out of a snake tank.  I'm hoping they will attract toads to my garden, which will help keep the slugs down.  Eh, now that I look at it, I might not leave the aquarium ornament in my bed, though.  It's not quite the right look.  I'll figure it out when I start getting stuff in place. 

Another thing I found was some old garden edging, which I need for another project.  I noticed that the ground my birdbath is sitting on isn't quite level, so the birdbath leans a bit.  I'm going to take some of my red clay and level a spot for it.  I wanted to make a ring out of something, to contain the dirt.  

This old plastic edging proved to be just the trick.  Probably one afternoon this week, I'll move the birdbath, sift some rocks out of the dirt and fill the ring up.  

Speaking of sifting dirt, I finally finished filling in the first of the tire tracks the landscammer left,  

and started on the second.  

And I filled in the giant ruts left by the dump truck.  

Those will probably need some topping off before it's all said and done, but at least the lawnmower won't fall into giant holes next time I mow -- which I thought about doing today, but just didn't want to.  I'll have to mow at least one more time before it's all over, but the grass has already slowed down growing.  

By the time I was done with all of that, I was hot and sweaty, so I sat outside in the shade for a while, but had to come inside because of the unwanted attention of a very persistent fly.  I spent the rest of the afternoon watching Lost In Austen on Prime Video and knitting on the hat.  

And finally, just in case you're interested, here are all the people I need to contact.  

Is it any wonder I'm overwhelmed?  

Well, all good things must come to an end, and that includes my extra long weekend.  Yes, it's back to work tomorrow, and moreover, we're back to going in at 5:00 AM, so I guess this is good night for now.  

Except I'm not going to bed right now.  I'm just finishing up this blog post.  I'm going to finish watching this show and knit some more on the hat.  

Later, taters.

Beautiful

The spider lilies are in full bloom, and I wish you could see them in person, because this photo simply doesn't do them justice.  

Those yellow butterflies love them, and I wish I could have gotten a photo of one.  They're kind of quick, though.   I did manage to take a few artsy-fartsy photos, and these two were my favorite.

It was kind of hard, because the sun is so bright, I can't really see my phone screen, but I think they turned out OK.  Still no yellow butterflies, though. 

While I was out there, I took another photo of that wire imbedded in the tree trunk.  My lovely markings indicate where the outer edges of the trunk were.  There's just a little bit left showing.  For perspective, when the tree was first cut down, the trunk was 3' across. 

The wire appears to be right in the center.  I wonder how long it had to have been there for that much of the tree to grow up around it, and why was it put there in the first place?  That's a story I wish I could hear. 

In other news, there has also, there has been knitting.  

It's weird, though.  I've used this yarn before, but the last time it didn't stripe like this.  I wonder if they changed the way they dyed it since I bought the last few skeins.   I cast on another hat last night, but there was a knot in the yarn, so it's going to pool a bit differently.  Oh, well, that's what you get when you buy cheap yarn.  I mean, I like it, but it's cheap.  

And finally, if you missed yesterday's post, this is why. 

Please someone tell me, what was deceptive or misleading about Fall decorations and my herb gardens?  I very strongly suggest that if you want to keep reading my blog, you bookmark the site and come here directly, because I'm getting tired of this nonsense.  If it happens again, I won't be linking to Facebook any more.  You will be able to fine me here at Blogspot, on X, and if I start getting enough traffic, I'll post my links to Substack as well.  The post is still here on the blog, though, if you want to go back and read it. 

 Oh, one more thing before I go.  Yesterday was a good day for football.  Texas won decidedly in Arch Manning's first start.  He made some freshman mistakes, but that's why they wanted him to play in the first place -- to get real game experience, and to give Quin Ewers another week to recover.  

LSU won, but I didn't really pay that much attention to that game because Navy was playing at the same time.  Yes, that Navy.  THE Navy who upset the Memphis Tigers!  

More importantly, if they play like they did yesterday, Army doesn't stand a chance. 

Go Navy!  Beat Army!

Finally Fall

And the long, hot miserable summer finally comes to an end this weekend.  Tomorrow morning at 7:43 AM CDT to be precise.  Of course, it's been meteorological fall for three weeks now, but let's not quibble over details.   The point is, it's finally Fall!  Except that it's still hot, at least for the next few days.  By Wednesday, it'll drop into the lower 80s, and I can't wait!  

With that in mind, I started putting out a few of my fall decorations.  

I won't show you all of them, because they're the same every year.  Mostly.  I did do something a little different here, because last year, I had a turkey wall plaque hanging in this corner.  

I felt like it made that corner just a little too cluttered, so this year, I put it out in the car port by my back door -- which is not the door shown here. 

 That is the old door into my laundry room.  Sometime before I bought the house, someone added a door from the kitchen into the aforementioned laundry room, so this one doesn't get used any more.  In fact, if I ever get to the point I can get my house completely remodeled, I've been considering having it removed completely and that space bricked up -- provided they can find matching bricks, of course. 

OK, moving right along.  Some good news and some bad news.  The good news is that these bricks seemed to have worked, because this bed was undisturbed this morning. 

The bad news is, the other raised bed was all dug up.  Sigh...I guess I'll have to put some bricks in it for the time being.  Next year, I want to get some of that stiff plastic screen and cut holes in it just big enough for the plants to grow up through.  

On the other hand, after a few moments of research, I found out that squirrels -- and indeed most rodents-- are repelled by peppermint oil.  I don't have any on hand, but I do have a peppermint plant.  I went outside and cut a few springs of it, then crushed the leaves just a bit and scattered them around the bed.  If it works, I may be able to do away with the bricks.  

Hmmm, I wonder if I can drop some down the chipmunk holes and run them off, too...

On a similar note, I got out early this morning and started digging up some of the day lilies.  I recorded a short video about it....

And finally, I started taste testing my new coffee this morning.  Since I'm not one of those people who can drink it all day and still fall asleep at night, I only tried three of the new flavors:  maple walnut, caramel brownie, and Frosty's mint chip.  They were all pretty good, but my favorite of these three was the caramel brownie.  

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to get this published because LSU and Navy both play here in about 15 minutes.  I'll need the computer to watch one of those games, so I'll check you later. 

Geaux, and Anchors Aweigh!

P.S.  Just so's you'll know, I do read all comments you leave on my posts, whether you do so here on Blogger or on Facebook.  I may not respond to them all, because I'm an introvert.  I need time to absorb and process, then I figure it's been too long to reply, so I don't.  But I do read and appreciate every one of them. 

That’ll Get Your Sugar Down

Sometimes I just don't understand my place of employment.  Yesterday, they let us go at 2:00 because we were way ahead.  Today, we were even farther ahead, but they made us stay until 3:00.  I don't get it.  I just don't get it. 

That place is starved for leadership, I'm telling you.  Oh, we've got "boss-erhsip", but not leadership.  Let me tell you a little story to show you what I mean.  A few days ago, I'd gone back to the break area to get some ice in my stupid little clear cup.  I was on my way back to my work area, walking behind one of the supervisors.  One of the sheet metal parts stagers got the supervisor's attention and asked him to sign her scrap tickets.  

"Why am I signing scrap tickets?  Don't you work for [Other Supervisor]?" he said.  

"I haven't seen him all day," replied the parts stager. 

"If I were you, I'd complain about that," said the supervisor, and he walked off without signing her scrap tickets.  Someone needs to remind him that we're all supposed to be on the same team out there.  Heck, even Cuz will sign our scrap tickets when we ask him to.  The irony of the situation is, it took him longer to stand there and argue with her than it would have to just sign the tickets.  

That guy is probably the most disliked supervisor out there, and for good reason.   I've had a few run-ins with him myself.  He's a boss, not a leader.  We don't have leaders out there.  As I said, the place is starved for leadership.  

So, after a 10 hour day at the factory, I decided to go to Walmart today instead of tomorrow and get that chore out of the way.  While I was there, I bought a new candle and pumpkin scented soap.  

They still don't have any pumpkin spice coffee creamer, though.  Usually they have it out by now.  They've got tons of peppermint mocha, but no pumpkin spice -- except in that one really high dollar brand that I refuse to buy.  I guess that new store manager is an old sour puss who doesn't like pumpkin.  

I'll have to check a few more stores around town, I guess.  I was thinking about going up to Batesville tomorrow and walk the trails at the Mounds, so I might check their Walmart while I'm up there.  It all depends, because I need to get my fence painted as well.  We'll see. 

Speaking of the fence, my spider lilies are starting to open up.  

On a whim, I decided to go ahead and mow the side yard.  That was all I intended to do, but while I had the mower out, I figured I might was well do the back, too. I was only going to mow until I ran out of gas, but as it happens, I had just enough to do the entire back yard.  That'll probably be the last time this year I mow the back, but I'll still try to keep the public side of things looking presentable.  

And finally, since I was already dirty and sweaty, and the shed was open anyway, I got the Fall decorations out and bright them into the house.  

After all that, I might not go to Batesville tomorrow, because I might not be able to move.  

Now, I'd better go practice my piano before I get too stiff and sore. 

Laters...

Sunny Sunday

I hadn't intended to, but this morning it was 58° when I woke up, and what with football on the TV, and the windows open, it felt so much like Fall, I had to put out a decoration.  Just one...this one on my front door. 

It was just cool enough that I needed a light blanket as I sat drinking my morning cup of coffee.  And the coolness made that coffee hit just right.

But, even with the beautiful cool weather, I did not get up and go back out to the lake this morning.  I kind of wanted to, but I knew I'd be feeling it in my legs soon.  Instead, I hung around the house and piddled in the back yard a bit.  

I finally got that Black Eyed Susan planted and put a cloche over her so I don't accidentally mow her down.  

I'm really hoping she comes back.  I know they're perennials, but I don't usually have much luck with those.  Purple coneflowers, blanket flowers -- none of them seem to survive. 

It was so nice outside, I thought briefly about mowing, but didn't because I didn't really want to.  I started digging up these day lilies, but didn't get very far with that. 

There are a bunch of them I need to move, and if anyone wants some free day lily bulbs, just let me know.  Seriously, I've got more than I know what to do with.  I've still got a bucket full of daffodil bulbs I dug up last spring that I need to do something with, too.  

Then there is this.    

It's the only remaining sunflower I have from the seeds I got at my nephew's wedding -- the others having already gone through their natural lifespans.  I really, really hope this one re-seeds itself and I get another one next year.  I think of all of them, this was my favorite. 

The spider lilies behind the house are really coming on, too,  

but the ones along the fence won't come up until later.  I've noticed that the ones in shady spots bloom sooner, though they do well in sunlight, too.  

After that, I came inside and watched a couple of episodes of Merlin and one of Father Brown.  BTW, Sister Boniface has made her appearance, and I can see why she got her own spinoff show.  Now I'm really wanting to start that one, too.  If you take Miss Bates from the version of Emma that stars Gwyneth Paltrow, and mix her with Benedict Cumberbatch's portrayal of Sherlock, you get Sister Boniface.  

Now, I need to get off of here, because the Cowboys game is about to start.  

Laters.

Rough Day

We woke up this morning to the news that Beryl had increased to a category 5 hurricane, but thankfully, wind shear is slowly weakening her. 

 However, they're now predicting her track will turn North once she crosses the Yucatan peninsula and enters the Bay of Campeche.  

And yes, in case you were wondering, I did fall asleep listening to Ryan Hall, Y'all last night.  

Other than that, it has been a rough day today.  Every single order I got had something wrong with it.  By the end of the day, I was hot, tired, and very very frustrated.  Then I had to go to Walmart.

But look, there is hope. 

I know, I know, some of you will say it's too early for Fall decorations to be out, but they aren't decorations.   They're craft supplies and it takes time to make stuff with them, so sit yo' self down and be quiet.  

For us Southerners -- and even some Northerners this year -- Fall colors bring hope that better times are ahead.  

We still don't have air in the plant, but they put up a handy dandy urine color chart in the bathrooms. 

Yay, us! 

The best news is, there is only one more day of work, then we're off for a four day weekend!  Even yay-er us!

One more thing, the cat is almost back to her normal self, but she's still moving just a bit slower than normal.  She ought to be as ornery as ever soon.