Good Friends

I love my friends who bring me fresh produce from their gardens.  A few weeks ago, I had a coworker bring me some squash.  This morning, it was another coworker bringing me sweet potatoes.  

I'll probably boil them down and mash them this weekend, then put them in the freezer for Thanksgiving or Christmas.  They will most likely end up in a pie -- made with Stevia instead of sugar, of course.  

Speaking of, I broke down and ordered a Diabetic cookbook from Amazon.  The real question will be if I can actually find the energy to make myself actually cook any of the recipes.  By the time I get home, all I want to do is sit.  I want something I can zap in the microwave.  Heck, even the air fryer is too much for me these days.   I'm hoping if I can start eating better, maybe I'll feel better. 

I also ordered a Christmas gift for Cody, one of the mini greenhouse seed starter things like I have.  He'd tried to grow some peppers from seed this year, and they didn't do well.  Maybe if he started them in a tray, they'll do better.  When they were here a couple of weeks ago, Brennan mentioned wanting a raised bed, but kind of wilted told her how much mine had cost.  I'm thinking I might get her one as her main gift from me.  If I do, I'll have it shipped directly to their house so they don't have to worry about finding room for it in their car. 

In knitting news, I was talking to a coworker yesterday and the subject of her granddaughter came up.  I had knit the baby some booties and a hat when she was first born.  Three years ago. I decided it's time that baby had a new hat.  I'd intended to buy some sport weight yarn at the store this afternoon, but since I didn't put yarn on my shopping list I completely forgot about it, so when I got home, I dove into the stash and came up with this yarn. 

But before I cast anything on, I remembered I had some sparkly yarn left.

I'll bet that baby will love a hot pink hat with sparkles in it.  

And finally, I thought I might drive out to the lake to watch the moon rise, but forgot about it until it was already too late.  I watched it from the back porch instead.  While I was out there, I tried to see the comet, but I guess it had faded too much.  Even with a long exposure on my phone, I could barely see the head of it, and the tail was all but invisible.  

That's it for Comet Atlas...at least for 80,000 years. 

Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got a hat to cast on. 

A Mite Nippy

"I woke up this morning feeling lovely" said my coworker as she sailed into the department this morning. 

"And then you came here," was my reply.  That'll take the wind out of anybody's sails.  And it was an eh day.  Not terribly bad, but not great either.  The worst part of it is that they changed the schedule again, and the lines were right on us -- even though the conveyors were full of completed work.  Nothing that was over there was what they needed.  

I just wish they could somehow comprehend how stressful that is, especially when they're blaming us.  

In other news,  I stepped outside last night to look at the comet one last time, and that north wind like to have blown me away.  And sure enough, the north wind brought the cold temperatures with it. 

Yeah, it was a mite nippy this morning.  My car said 39°, an my phone app said 41°.  Either way, it finally felt like Fall out there.  I didn't see any sign of frost, but I don't regret bringing the plants in.  Better safe than sorry.  It's supposed to be about the same temps tonight, so I'll wait until tomorrow to put them back outside. 

On a similar note, I finally cut down the last of the sunflowers I was growing in the front yard.  Or to put it more bluntly, it finally looked dead.  I'd been watching it, and every time I thought it was time to cut it, another bloom would open up.  But at last, it looked dead enough to chop down and into the compost bin it went.  Now the only one I have left is my Mexican Sunflower, and it's still going strong.  Funny, I looked up a website and it said they're supposed to get between 3 and 6' tall.  The fence is 6', so I'm guessing that plant is about 9' tall. 

And finally, since I finished watching Land Of The Lost, I started Lidsville last night.  Oh, the memories it brought back!  There is only one season, and I think next up with be H. R. Puffenstuff.   Or maybe Gilligan's Island.  Or, I don't know.  I'll find something to watch while I'm knitting....because my coworker told me her three year old granddaughter is still wearing the hat I knit for her when she was first born.  

I think she needs something new.  

For Real This Time

I saw the comet for reals this time.  Last night, I mean. 

I went out shortly before 7:00 PM, and waited until it showed up, even though I was getting et up by mosquitoes.  It was worth it.   Alas, I didn't get very good photos of it, though.  When I tried to zoom in, the camera wouldn't focus. 

And when I zoomed out, the comet got a bit lost in the light pollution. 

But at least I got to see it.  I might try to see it again tonight before it becomes too faint, but this'll probably be the last time I go out.  

In other news, the long awaited checks have finally arrived, and I can breathe a bit easier now. 

Look what else arrived in the mail today.  My friend Kristine has a shop on Etsy, Stormy Blue.  There is still some stuff in it, but mostly she does conventions and stuff.  Anyway, she was having a special where you could get a cute little pumpkin tray 

and three fall candles for the low, low price of only $50.  

She only had five available, and I was lucky enough to sneak in and grab one.  After my Luddite self figured out how to use Venmo, the payment was made and my parcel was on the way!  It arrived a lot quicker than I expected it to, and All Hallows Eve is now burning, filling my living room with lovely scent. 

And she found this adorable card to include in the package. 

On a similar note, they're predicting we'll get down into the low 40s tonight with the possibility of frost in some areas.  I don't think it'll frost this far South, but I went ahead and brought my more tender plants inside just in case -- my Whatever Cacti and such.  I left my garden mums and Venus Fly Trap outside.  They'll be OK even with a light frost.  Oh, and I had some flies get into my kitchen, so yesterday I brought Marty Mac in and left him on the kitchen windowsill.  My house is now fly free and my VFT is nice and fat.   

And finally, I finished watching Land of The Lost, and am kind of bummed.  It was only three seasons long, so it went way too quickly.  I also watched the first episode of NCIS: Origins, and the new Matlock with Kathy Bates.  I enjoyed both of them, and liked the Matlock a lot more than I thought I would.  Kathy Bates was her usual phenomenal self, and there was a surprising twist at the end, which I won't spoil for you.  

I reckon that's it for tonight.  

Laters.

I Saw it!!

I saw it!  But I didn't see it, but I did!  I saw the comet, sort of.  

I'd gone outside last night with my binoculars and looked and looked and looked, but I didn't see anything that looked even remotely comet - like.   On an impulse, I took one of those long exposure photos, and when I got back inside, look what I saw!  

 It's the comet!  I'd seen it, but hadn't realized it until I saw the tail in the photo.  I'd probably just thought it was another star.  But now that I know where it will be located, I'll go back out tonight and see if I can get a better photo. 

Either way, I'm stoked!  This is the first comet I've been able to see since Hale-Bopp came through back in 1996-1997.  

In less exciting news, my checks were supposed to get here today.  I was so looking forward to putting all of that mess behind me and moving on with my life, when along about 8:00 this morning I remembered -- it's a holiday.  No mail.  No checks...Sigh...

Maybe they'll get here tomorrow.  In the meantime, I went ahead and called the customer service number and paid that bill over the phone.  The customer service rep told me I could pay it online, and I replied that I never could get it to work.  It says I don't have any qualifying bills, or whatever.  She told me I have to click on this other thing, and not what I thought I was supposed to, so I'm going to try that next time it comes due. 

That was the last thing I had to get straightened out, and once it's taken care of, this whole six week long headache will be over and done with.  

Now I need to run grab a quick shower before the sun sets.  

Laters. 

Knitting Into The Void

I spent a good deal of time this morning knitting into the void.  If you're a knitter, you know exactly what I mean.  If you're not, let me see if I can explain it to you. 

The ribbing section of the hat I'm working on is supposed to be 4" wide, so when it looked like it was getting close to 3", I started checking it with my measuring tape.   The first time I checked, the ribbed section was 2.75" long, so I knit about three more rounds and checked again.  It measured 2.75" long.  

I knit four more rounds and checked...again, it measured 2.75".  I knit 47 rounds and finally, the ribbing made it to 3".  Two hundred and sixty eight rounds later, and the ribbing is finally the requisite 4" long.  

OK, I'm exaggerating, but that's what it seems like.  When you're knitting and knitting like that and your piece doesn't seem to be getting any longer, we call that knitting into the void because that's where it seems all your knitting is going.  Occasionally, the void will give all that knitting back at once, and you end up with something that is 2" too long.  Fortunately, that didn't happen to me.  This time...

Nevertheless, the ribbing is done, and now I have to knit 9" of stockinette stitch before I begin the decrease rounds.  This one will be a gift, but I doubt it'll be ready for this Christmas, so even if the recipient sees it, hopefully she'll have a memory like mine and will forget by next year. 

Speaking of Christmas, I watched the first of this year's cheesy movies while I was doing all of that knitting this morning, because I'd DVRed it to watch the game last night -- which I also had to finish this morning because I fell asleep with about 4 minutes left in regulation play.  The score was 20-16 Ole Miss, and I remember thinking that LSU wouldn't be able to come back and win...the next thing I knew, the commentator woke me up shouting, "TOUCHDOWN!  LSU WINS!"  In overtime, no less.  

I found out this morning that it was the second longest game in Tiger Stadium history at 4 hours and 16 minutes.  No wonder I fell asleep!

In other news, was anyone able to see the comet last night?  I walked out a couple of times to try to see it, but couldn't even with my binoculars.  I guess there were too many trees in the way.  It's supposed to be getting higher in the sky over the next few days, so I'll try again tonight.  I may take my phone out and do a long exposure and see if I can catch it that way.  That's how I got all those photos of the Northern Lights, which were barely visible to the naked eye. 

While I was out there, I had a little fun experimenting with long exposure shots of the stars.  

It turned out OK, but the moon was waxing gibbous, and it made the night sky just a little too bright.  If I remember, I'll try it during the next new moon.  Because I know what the phases of the moon are and don't think the government hid the moon...

In other news, look what we have coming up this week:  

 All this cooler weather inspired me to get my piano books out and start playing a bit of Christmas music.   And I splurged and had a sip of egg nog.  OK, more than a sip, and I'm sure I'll pay for it with high glucose tomorrow, but I figure as long as I don't over do it, it's OK to have a treat now and again. 

On a similar note, I've been taste testing all these keto/low carb desserts, and honestly, to me the best ones are the easiest:  a pack of sugar free pudding mix made with heavy whipping cream instead of milk.  Just beat it into a mousse like consistency and you're good to go.  Very simple, very easy. 

I still haven't tried any cake or cookie recipes, though.  I just can't seem to motivate myself to do so.  

Somebody needs to come whip my butt into shape.  

Nothing

I've said it before, and I'll say it again.  I have all these plans when I take my long weekends off, and all I end up doing is sitting in front of the TV most of the time.  This weekend has been no exception.  

I was going to go walk some Pokémon Go routes.  I didn't.  

I was going to go up to Batesville.  I didn't.  

I was going to start cleaning up the mess in the spare bedroom.  I didn't.  

One thing I did do, though is find a hat pattern written for sock weight yarn.  It's got a coordinating cowl, and both are pretty mindless, so I can knit them while watching TV.   As soon as I had my patterns, I had to go stash diving.  The patterns for each said 100g of yarn, so just to be sure, I wanted to find yarn I had two skeins of and came up with these.  

They are from my friend Leann's shop Forbidden Fiber, Co.  There isn't a colorway name, because she was clearancing out discontinued lines, and had a one-off sale.  This one just happened to have two left, so I snapped them up.  

The Incarnation of Evil was highly upset that I disturbed her nap, but ultimately approved of my yarn choice.  A 144 stitch cast on later, and the hat is underway.  

If you're not already a fan, do go check out Leann's shop.  She's got a special colorway called After The Storm, which is to raise money for those affected by the recent hurricanes.  

OK, moving right along.  Another thing I did was to go do my weekly shopping, and even that was after a long internal debate with myself.  After all, there wasn't really anything I absolutely had to have this week, but I went anyway -- telling myself I needed to at least get out of the house.  

While I was there, I picked up another Squishmallow, reasoning that this one can at least count as a Thanksgiving decoration.  

In other news, it was time for my semi-annual pressure washing of the bricks outside my back door.  

They're not as clean as I'd like them, but I got most of the moss off.  I've been debating on what to do with them anyway since I discovered earlier this year that there is a concrete slab underneath them.  I've actually thought about getting some 16" x 16" patio stones from Lowe's and building myself a small patio.  I used to have one before the plumber pulled it up to repair my sewer line -- a month after I moved into this house.  I don't need anything very big -- just enough to put a fire pit and an egg chair out there.  

Days like today would be wonderful to sit out there drinking my morning coffee, or to sit out there at night watching the stars.  Speaking of stars, I walked out last night to see if the aurora was visible again, but nope.  Just a faint glow that is more than likely from the gas stations up at the intersection of I-55 and Hwy 7.  I thought it was nifty that I could capture the stars with my phone's camera.  

There is a comet that is supposed to be visible starting tonight, and I'm going to walk out to the empty field to see if I can see it.  I've missed the last two because of all of the trees around here, but now that they've cleared most of those woods out, maybe I can see this one. 

Well, I just got off the phone with Cody -- and by off the phone, I mean we were texting-- and unfortunately Brennan wasn't able to get the day off work for the company picnic, so I guess I'll be going solo this year.  But he was telling me about some Celtic festival they have every year down in the Jackson area.  He's going to find out the date for next year, and maybe I can go to that.  It sounds like something right up my alley. 

And now, I need to get off of here because it's almost time for the Red River Rivalry.  Hook 'Em!  

Oh, and some clever person marked the location of the Vanderbilt goalpost on Google Earth. 

Yep, I checked.  That is my own screenshot up there.   They've taken the actual goalpost out of the river, but the spot is marked for...well, until someone edits Google Earth.  

Oh, and one last thing before I go, cheesy Christmas movies start on Great American Family tonight!  I know I said yesterday, but I forgot what day it was.  It's tonight.  I'll need multiple screens again, because LSU plays Ole Miss at the same time.

What can I say?  I gotta be me!
 

Auroras

I knew that there had been another solar flare which caused a geomagnetic storm significant enough to produce auroras.  I just didn't think they were supposed to be visible this far South, so I didn't pay that much attention to it.  

So there I was, sitting in my living room watching Crime Scene Kitchen, when suddenly my social media feeds were flooded with photos of Northern Lights, and when I saw one post saying they were visible in Biloxi, I grabbed my phone and headed outside. 

Looking to the northwest, I saw a faint glow, and began snapping photos. 

Knowing that auroras fluctuate, I went back inside, but came out to check on them every few moments.  It was during one of those moments, I finally figured out how to set my phone's camera to a longer exposure and got some much brighter photos. 

Shortly after 9:00 PM, when I knew the lights would be at their peak, I stepped back outside and saw them glowing pretty brightly behind the trees.  

"If only those trees weren't in the way!" I said to myself in frustration.  Then I remembered...they'd cleared a bunch of the trees behind the house, so I walked through the woods to the empty field...

and the heavens declared the glory of God and the skies proclaimed his handiwork. 

After that, there just doesn't seem anything left to say. 

Mayhem

Mayhem has returned to my workplace, and I'm not talking about this guy. 

It would seem Loki has escaped from wherever he'd been hiding these last few years and ran rampant throughout the plant. It being Thor's Day, and all...

Turns out the plant was out of some Vitally Important part, which had been ordered, but hadn't arrived.  Thus they had to skip all of the orders to which this Vitally Important part was ... um ... vitally important and skip way down the schedule to run orders for which we didn't have any parts ready.  So we spent all day scrambling to get orders out with the assembly line group leaders and supervisors standing over us, hollering, "Where are my parts?  Why aren't my parts ready?" as if they thought we could pull them out of our posteriors.   

At one point, I turned to Cuz and said, "Why don't I just wiggle my nose and blink them into existence?"  Alas, I don't have that power, so we had to do it the old fashioned way.  By working our posteriors off.  Needless to say, we did not get off early today, but get off we eventually did, and it's a good thing because by that time, I was so tired I could hardly lift my arms.  

After work, I had to run into town and pay a bill -- with cash because I still don't have my checks.  They're supposed to get here Monday.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they do, because I sure don't want to have to go through all that rigamarole again.  

On the way home, I stopped by the Lee Tartt Nature Preserve and walked my Rover Route, but only once.  I'd thought I might do it a couple of times because it's so short, but I was tired and my feet hurt, so I came on home and have just sat ever since. 

Moving right along, let's talk about schadenfreude.  One of my coworkers seems to be coming down with laryngitis.  One moment she'll be talking perfectly normally, then suddenly she's squeaking like a little mouse.  I should not have laughed as hard as I did...

Speaking of schadenfreude, there is this one brazer -- the newest one in the department, mind you -- and she thinks she knows everything.  She walked in the door trying to boss us all around, even those of us who've been there nearly 30 years, and acts like she's the only one over there who really knows how to braze.  She's loud, bossy, and obnoxious and is constantly talking about how good everything was at her old job, which begs the question, why isn't she still there? 

Anyway, yesterday one of little miss know-it-all's orders got sent back up because she'd brazed it wrong. You'd be proud of me.  I kept my mouth shut, but inside I was laughing my hiney off.  

And finally, lookit!  The Great American Christmas movies start tomorrow!

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

I Started Something

I think I started something out at work, but not in a bad way.  See, the doctor recommended I do squats throughout the day when it was too hot to go walking after work, so that's what I've been doing.  The intention is to do 5 every half hour, but the reality is I do 5 whenever I think about it.   One of the other brazers has decided to join me, and I've seen a couple more doing random squats...

Today, she -- the other brazer -- was doing her squats when Junior walked up to her and said, "What are you doing dropping it like it's hot?"  Very inappropriate, if you ask me.  He's one of those people that tries so hard to connect with others, but is incapable of comprehending how unlikeable he really is.  I can't stand him and won't even speak to him unless I absolutely have to.  

In other work news, I got randomly selected to do a Lennox wide survey titled, "A Great Place To Work."  After I stopped laughing, I filled out the survey, not that it'll do any good.  I've done tons of them and nothing has gotten any better.  Part of the problem is that most employees out there aren't completely honest because they fear for their jobs.  I stopped caring years ago, so I told them exactly what I think.  Like I said, it won't do any good, but still...

By the way, did I mention what we have to do now?  Meaning the brazers?  We have to write out tubing's scrap tickets.  For example, if someone over in tubing makes too many headers, it's the brazer who does that order that has to go get a scrap ticket, then hunt down a supervisor to sign it, then go put it into the scrap bin.  It's bad enough that we have to order -- then go find -- partials when they don't do enough, now suddenly we're responsible for writing up their scrap tickets when they do too many -- or when they mess a part up, or it gets squshed in the machine, or if they just don't feel like fooling with it they'll just toss it into a bin and send it over to us and we have to take care of it.  The only thing I should have to write a scrap ticket for is if I braze something wrong or if I burn something up.  

I'm telling you, when the plant gets back up to full capacity and full speed and running what we used to run every day out there, changes are going to have to be made or we will not be able to keep up.  Not the way things are now.  The only reason we are ahead now is because the lines are only running about half of what they're supposed to.  

They've got so much stuff piled onto the brazers that has nothing to do with brazing and this is because there is absolutely no accountability in the tubing department.  They aren't required to count their parts to make sure there are enough and just enough.  They aren't required to check their parts to make sure they're correct.  They expect the brazers to do all that.  Heck, they don't even have to confirm their work in the computer, because they know if they don't, the brazers will have to do that, too.  No wonder we're all stressed out and exhausted.  

In other other work news, one of the brazers fell Monday evening at her home and broke her leg, so she's going to be out for quite a while.  I'm sure she'd appreciate your prayers if you've a mind to.  But that means we're now even more shorthanded -- because they never replaced the two brazers who quit earlier this year.  So, yay.  More stress.  That still didn't stop them from moving someone to the line, though.  

In other other news, as some of you saw yesterday, I am done posting links to the blog on Facebook because they removed yesterday's post, claiming I was trying to get likes or clicks in a misleading way.  What on Earth was misleading about that post?  The really infuriating part is, real scammers and spammers don't get taken down.  For example, I love that show The Chosen, and every single season there are groups that pop up on Facebook claiming you can stream the new season now -- sometimes they show up even before that season has started filming.  All you have to do is give them your credit card number and they'll give you early access.  We in the real fan club group report them and report them, but FB claims such things don't violate community standards, but my knitting and gardening do somehow.  Go figure.  

All that to say, from now on, I'll be posting only on the sites listed below.

X: FMFBecky

MeWe:  Becky Gunstream

And by special request Truth Social:  FMFBeckyG

And of course, you can always use Feedly. 

I have in the past posted links to other social media sites -- Gab and the like -- but they didn't bring enough traffic to the blog to make the effort worth it.  I'll post to them for a few days, just to see if anyone cares, but I'm convinced by this time that most of my hits are from Facebook's bots crawling through past posts to see what they can remove.  

In knitting news, I've finished the knitting portion of my incognito project, and all I need to do now is graft it, so I will soon have another project I can share with you.   I've been seeing ads for some place called Arcane Fiber Works, and they have the most gorgeous colors.  I'm tempted to buy some, but I probably won't.  Their worsted weight is a bit too pricy for charity work, and usually for that kind of money, I'm going to get sock/fingering weight.  Not that I need any more.  I've still got all this I need to do something with. 

Some of that is lace weight, but most of it is fingering weight.  What to do with it all?  Well, duh, make socks of course.  Alas, I can't wear hand knit socks any more because of the steel toed boots we have to wear at work.  They make the toes of my socks wear out way too fast, and it's just not worth it.  I buy store bought socks and go through them like water as it is. 

I could make hats out of it all, but I'd have to find a new charity to donate them to.  The Seaman's Church Institute wants hats made from worsted or bulky weight, so this won't do for that.  Eh, I'll figure out something.  I used to enjoy knitting so much.  I need to get back into it -- more than just hats.  

But I like hats.  They're simple, easy to work on while I'm watching TV, and there is always a need for them somewhere.  I'm thinking I might try to send a few up to North Carolina, if I can find a place to send them to.  

Which segues nicely into hurricane Milton.  I'm watching Ryan Hall's livestream, and Milton has made landfall.  With that, I think I'll leave you here and go watch it in bed. 

Goodnight all. 

Milton

 All eyes are on Milton as he makes his way across the Gulf.  

He is an absolute monster.   As of this writing, he's still a Cat 5, but is expected to weaken a bit before making landfall.  The good news is, he's not expected to hit the same area that Helene hit -- but you never know for sure.  Weather is ultimately unpredictable, which is what makes it so exciting.  I'm not going to drone on and on about the details; there are professional meteorologists for that.  But I will tell you one thing -- 

Here's how you know it's going to be bad:  This is the Waffle House closure map.  

You know it's bad when the Waffle House closes!. 

In better news, we're finally getting a taste of fall here in the Fine Martial Household. 

Yesterday when I got off work, I went straight to the gas station and filled up both my car and the gas can I'd put in there Sunday.  I hadn't intended to mow as soon as I got home, but it wasn't too terribly hot, and I told myself, "You know if you go inside and sit down, you'll never get back up."  

So, I got out and mowed the front and side yards and hardly broke a sweat.  I came inside and sat down to watch an episode of Sister Wives, then the Cowboys ball game, which I missed Sunday night due to a lightning delay.  I got to halftime, and decided to pause the recording and take a shower.  But first, I went into the kitchen to fill up my water cup and put it into the refrigerator.  I turned on the water and...nothing.  No water. 

I quickly jumped onto the water company's FB page, and yep, they had it turned off to work on something.  It should be back on in about an hour, said the page.  I went back into the living room and unpaused the game.  

After about an hour, I checked again and still no water.  I finished the ball game, practiced my piano, then watched an episode of Land Of The Lost. 

Long story less long, the water didn't come back on until after 8:00 PM, and even then the pressure was low.  Still, I needed a shower, so I took a quick one even with low pressure, then went straight to bed -- only about 30 minutes later than I normally turn the light off.  And that was my excitement for the day. 

All that to say, after all that, I just didn't feel like blogging, even though I had stuff to blog about.  Like the big meeting we had at work last week that I keep forgetting to tell you about.  There isn't much to tell anyway.  They said the reason we're still working so much overtime this late in the year is because they're phasing out the R-410 refrigerant and the coils that use it.  A few weeks ago, the company put out a last call for customers to order the old units before we stop making them completely. 

Since then, we've been swamped with orders from customers wanting to stock up on the old units, and thus, we will be working overtime through the rest of the year, and on into next peak season.   The good news is, I might be able to save up enough to get some necessary work done on this house -- if I can find someone I can trust to do said work.  I've been blown off or ripped off way too many times for that. 

OK, moving right along... Sunday morning I recorded a brief vlog for you.  

One day, I'm going to get better organized and record something actually interesting for a change. 

This is not that recording. 

And finally, I'm thinking about changing the name of my blog.  I no longer draw, because I can't see well enough, so no more fine arts.  I no longer do martial arts, because sensei closed the dojo during the last recession, so no more martial arts. 

The only thing I still do is fiber arts, and those are mostly charity hats, which I'm sure get boring after a while.  The name just doesn't seem to fit any more.  Even the reader who suggested the name no longer comes here, and has unfriended me on Facebook as well.   We'll see...

On a similar note, I'm almost done with my incognito knitting, so you'll soon see more boring charity hats.  I guess I'd better get to it, then. 

Laters. 

I Gotta Stop

My leg is getting so sore, I'm going to have to stop for a while.  Digging up bones..um, bulbs, I mean.  This morning, I started on this patch of spider lilies.  

I know the picture isn't the best, but you can kind of see the stems sticking up, even though all the blooms have died back.  I didn't dig very many, but between those and what I dug up yesterday, I've already got a five gallon bucket nearly full of bulbs.  I picked out a few to take to my coworker who wanted some, but I don't know what I'm going to do with the rest. 

I got a few more daylilies dug up, too. I've still got a bunch more to go, though, but as I said, my leg is getting mighty sore. 

I'm also going to have to figure out what to do with this rose.  

It's a climbing rose, so it can't stay in the middle of the yard where it is now without any structure, and I don't want to put a trellis right there.  I have this thing about stuff in the middle of my yard.  I want it all around the edges -- I guess because I don't want to have to mow around it.

Yeah, I know you're probably tired of hearing about my yard, but what with my knitting being incognito right now, there isn't much else to talk about.   I've spent the rest of the day watching football.  Navy handled Air Force easily, leading up to what will be an epic showdown against Army. 

 Then I watched A&M upset Mizzou, and Vandy upset Bama, and looked around for all the mouthy Alabama fans -- who got suddenly very quiet.

Oh, and we have tropical storm Milton in the Gulf, heading for ... Florida.  He's expected to be a Cat 3 at landfall.  Lord, help those people.  They've been through enough already. 

I know this is short, but I need my computer to watch more football, so see ya!

Almost Done

I'm almost done switching everything over to my new bank account.  I stopped by the water office this morning to get a new form, and the lady told me since I was already signed up for a draft, all I'd have to do was give them my new account number.  I opened the app and let her copy the new number straight from my phone, and she said I'd made it just in time.  They're going to process this month's payments on Monday, so there won't be any interruption in my payment schedule. 

I think that's all...except for my mortgage, which I always paid by check anyway.  Hopefully, my new checks will arrive during the grace period, so I won't have to try to pay over the phone with my card.  I'll do that as a last resort.  

Once I'd finished with that, I went to the Lee Tartt Nature Preserve and walked one of the trails out there.  And I made myself a Pokémon Go route out of it!  And me being me, I fat fingered the one of the words, but didn't catch it until after the route had been published.  It's supposed to be RIVER Loop, not Rover loop.  

Oh well, it's not likely anyone but me will notice that.  Or maybe they'll think it was deliberate.  One can only hope.  It's a short route -- just over 700 meters -- so I ought to be able to level up my route badge pretty quickly, plus it's my favorite trail out there.  That ought to inspire me to walk it more. 

Then I dropped off a few Pokémon in some gyms and went on to Walmart to do my shopping, where I was delighted -- get it?-- to find they'd finally gotten some pumpkin spice creamer in stock.  

Alas, they didn't have the zero sugar kind, but there's not that much sugar in it anyway.  I can't say the same about the egg nog, though.  My pancreas isn't going to be happy with me for that one!  Oh well...I'd always said I'd buy some when they first put it out, then I wouldn't get any more until right before Christmas.  I've found a recipe for sugar free nog online, and I want to try that.  Maybe it'll be halfway decent.  I've been sort of good, though, because I haven't bought a single bag of Halloween Candy.  Usually I've eaten three or four by now -- both Autumn Mix and Reese's mini cups.  

And look what else I found!

My friend Peggy had some of these when I went up to Missouri last April to watch the eclipse, and I had to apologize, because I ate about half the bag.  I've been looking for them ever since, but hadn't found them here yet.  The ranch flavor, I mean.  They'd had the sea salt and salt & vinegar, but this was the first time I'd seen the ranch.  And yes, I've already eaten half the bag.  

I think I've worked it off digging bulbs though. 

I'm going to have to put that wheelbarrow somewhere else, though, because when I step outside and see this hand out of the corner of my eye, it kind of freaks me out at first.  Until I remember what it is. 

I took a quick break from digging day lily bulbs to dig a few spider lily bulbs that were still in the front yard, out near the road.  

There were only about 10 lilies in that area, but I dug up a whole Walmart bag full of bulbs.  I'm going to take some to one of my coworkers, but I don't know what I'm going to do with the rest.  I'll probably put them in a box out by the road with a sign that says "Free", and the daylily bulbs will be right beside them.  What doesn't get picked up will end up in the fire pit I want to get eventually.  

By the way, the lilies have died back for the year.  I deadheaded the last of them yesterday.  It always makes me a bit sad when the last of them go.  

In the meantime, I'm working on my knitting project that will be a Christmas gift.

 The intended recipient doesn't usually read the blog, but I'm not going to take any chances.  This will be the last photo I post until after Christmas.   I just hope I remember to post one then!

OK, now that I've gotten all of that done, this is going to be me for the rest of the weekend. 

I guess I'd better get started. 

Laters

Better

I hope you'll be pleased to know, my back is feeling much better today.  I'm still getting the odd twinge or two but the spasms so severe I thought I was going to throw up have settled down.  I slept pretty good last night on top of that.  Maybe because I had been so exhausted yesterday.  

In fact, I felt well enough that I dug up a few more daylily bulbs when I got home. 

I didn't get very far, but at least I have a path wide enough to get the lawnmower through, should I choose to mow again this year. 

Eh, I'll probably knock the grass down at least one more time this year.  Especially in the front yard.   

One nice thing about having a privacy fence -- I felt much more comfortable leaving the wheel barrow out (since we're not expected to get any rain for a while) without worrying that it will wander off...so to speak.  

In book news, I finished reading The Ancient Origins Of Modern Holidays.  It was pretty interesting, but some of his information was a bit sus.  The author claims to be a Christian, but parts of this book gave me the heebie jeebies.  I can't really explain it.  It was just a vague creepiness.  If you can find it on sale, give it a shot, but I wouldn't recommend paying full price for it. 

Now I'm re-reading The Paradise War, by Stephen R. Lawhead.  I've read it before, and it's one of those books I can read over and over again. 

Other than that, there isn't a whole heck of a lot to talk about today.  One of the meteorologists I follow on social media posted this photo this morning.  

 You can clearly se where Helene left her path of destruction.  

You can also see people all over pulling together to help.  Elon Musk has made Starlink free for the next 30 days for people in the affected area, and the Y'all Squad has bought the hook up thingies and delivered them to the most ravaged areas.  

Samaritan's Purse and Cajun Navy are also on site and delivering supplies.  I even heard of a mule train taking in necessities to the most cut off areas.  

Now we have hurricane Kirk in the Atlantic.  He is expected to live long and prosper, but will be one for the fishes.  Thank goodness.  

We're about hurricaned out for this year. 

Not Fun

Can it really be October already?  Where does the time go?

There I was at work, waiting to use the computer, when I yawned so wide I think I dislocated my jaw.  OK, not really, but it was an eyepopping yawn.

"You're up in here still asleep!" said one of my nearby coworkers.

"I didn't sleep well at all last night," I replied.  

Oh, the night started out good.  I fell asleep pretty quickly, but was awakened along about 10:00 with horrific muscle spasms in my back.  I don't know what I did to cause them, but I was in agony.  I took some Tylenol and rubbed some Absorbine, Jr on it-- as best I could.  The spasms were right below my shoulder blades where it's very hard to reach by yourself.  They didn't seem to help much, but eventually I drifted off to sleep. 

Alas, that alarm still went off at 3:30, and the muscle spasms were still going.  Just a note:  I always set two alarms-- one on my phone, and one on my clock radio.  The reason for this is because when I silence the alarm on my phone, sometimes I fall back to sleep.  When the clock radio goes off, having the radio playing keeps this from happening.  I used to use just my clock radio alarm, but sometimes the radio station is off the air, and when it goes off there is only silence. 

One time when Cody was a teenager, this happened, and I slept on and on, until he knocked at my bedroom door and asked, "Mom, are you going to work today?"  I looked at the clock and it was ten minutes until 7:00.  Oh no!  I jumped out of bed, threw on some clothes and flew out the door.  I made it to work about 10 minutes late, but I made it. 

Ever since then, I've set myself a backup alarm.  I don't know why I told you all of that, I guess because the radio station was off the air this morning, and it reminded me of that. 

Anyway, that's neither here nor there.  I got up and went to work, dealing with the muscle spasms all day long.  At one point, they got so bad, I seriously considered coming home, but I didn't.  I stuck it out and made it through the day.  The spasms seem to start settling down some after lunch, but haven't completely gone away. 

And to every older-than-me person at whom I used to roll my eyes because all they did was complain about their aches and pains...I get it now.  I totally get it now.  

That's not all...now, I have a ripping headache.  Why?  Because when I got home from work, I had to go and update all my auto drafts and such to my new checking account.  Which was a headache in itself, but I think I got everything changed over except my water bill.  I'll have to stop by the water office tomorrow and pick up a form to fill out for that.  I kept telling myself to stop today, but I just felt so bad I drove right on past them.  Also, I need to get my direct deposit changed as well.  The bank is re-directing my deposit to the new account, but I still need to update my information with HR.  I went up this morning and got the form.  I just need to fill it out and take it back in.  Once I'm done with that, I think that will be everything.  

After all that, I think I'm going to take it easy for the rest of the day and watch Halloween Wars.  

Laters.

What A Mess!

There I was at work, just a working away when...

By the way, you know your workplace lacks leadership when both your group leader and your supervisor are out on the same day and you don't even notice it.  Everything ran just as smoothly as it does when they're there.  

So there I was at work, just a working away when Cuz walked up to one of the parts stagers and spoke to her.  "I'll bet he's telling her to let us go at 2:00."  Sure enough, she turns around, holds up two fingers and says, "Two o'clock everyone!"  

I looked at the clock...it was 1:58.  

"You could have given us a little more notice than that!"  I said to Cuz.  "I'm not complaining, but still..."  

That was a lie.  I was complaining.  Just a li'l bit. 

It turns out it was a good thing, because remember those checks I ordered nearly a month ago?  Yeah, they still haven't arrived.  I looked up the tracking number, and they've been in Georgia since September 17th.  I got onto the credit union website and chatted with a customer service rep.  I explained the situation, and long story slightly less long, he said that at this point, we have to assume the checks are lost and my account is likely to be compromised.  The best thing to do would be to close that account and open a new one, but he couldn't do that over chat.  I'd have to call. 

As much as I hate making phone calls, this is something that couldn't be ignored, so call the credit union is just what I did.  After nearly 45 minutes on the phone with a very patient rep, I have a shiny new checking account with some shiny new checks on the way.  Hopefully.  She also fixed it so that the new checks would be free of charge, because of what I'd gone through.  They even linked my old debit card to the new account, so I don't have to get a new one of those yet.  

Now I just have to update all my auto draft payments, Paypal info, and stuff like that, and we'll be all set.   It's such a pain, but what with thieves everywhere, you can't be too sure.  

Oh, and the rep got a bit of a chuckle when the cat started yelling at me.  "I'm sorry," I said, "I'm talking to my cat."  

"I can hear her," the rep said, laughing.  

In other news, I finished a hat last night.  

 Then I cast on a new one, which won't be for the Seaman's Church Institute.  I can't show you a photo, because if it turns out, it will be a Christmas gift.  The pattern is the pinwheel hat, but alas it is no longer available.  Fortunately, I'd printed out a copy years ago, before the website it was on was taken down.  It's knit in short rows, then seamed, but I'm going to try to do it with a provisional cast on and kitchener the live stitches together and see if that works out better. 

The bad news is, I've tried it on two different kinds of yarn, and don't like how it's knitting up on either one.  One was too dark and the pattern got lost.  The other is too stiff, and I'm not sure she'd like the color anyway.  I have a few more options before I'll have to break down and order something, though.  

But now, I think I'm going to go take a hot shower, even though it's kind of early, and then watch some more Downton Abbey or maybe Halloween Wars.  

Laters.