High Tech Hyacinth

I almost didn't blog today, mainly because it's been a pretty quiet day.  Not much has gone on, other than knitting and watching football.  More about that in a minute. 

I've been playing around with AI here lately, and yesterday, I uploaded a photo of The Incarnation Of Evil to ChatGPT with the prompt, "Turn my cat into a plushie".  This is what it gave me. 

Then I uploaded the exact photo with the exact same prompt to Gemini and got this. 

One more time with Grok, and got:  

To be honest, I like ChatGPT's interpretation the best, and if I'm being completely honest, I think I like the cat better as a plushie -- at least today I do.  She's run in and out so many times, I'm starting to understand why my mother locked the door on us when we were kids.  

Not to be outdone, I tried the same thing with the Christmas tree photo.  I posted ChatGPT results yesterday, then I uploaded the exact same photo with the exact same prompt to Gemini

and to Grok. 

As with the cat photo, I like ChatGPT's result the best.  It seems to have more personality, if AI can have personality.  I guess they can.  I mean, Hal did...

Speaking of, most of you know by now that Amazon has its own delivery service now for many parts of the country.  What I like about it is that you can stalk your delivery driver right there in the app.  

It makes me feel like a high tech Hyacinth Bucket.  

And what was in that Amazon package I was stalking the deliver driver over?  Nothing so exciting as watching it get closer and closer.  I ordered a screen for my bathroom sink to keep me from dropping stuff down the drain.  And also, some cotton spice bags. 

I'd seen a photo posted online where you could put cloves, cinnamon, anise seed, and chili flakes into a spice bag and the strong smells are supposed to repel mice.   I thought it wouldn't hurt to try.  I didn't have chili flakes, and powdered chili just sifted through the fabric, so I put some of my dried peppermint in instead.  We'll see if it works.  

Even if it doesn't, I now have spice bags for cooking -- like when I want to make broth or something.  

Speaking of things that smell, back before Christmas I'd bought a new wax melter, because my old one had broken.  Alas, the first or second time I used it, the bowl cracked and the melted wax seeped down into the part that holds the bulb and ruined it. 

No matter how diligently I cleaned the wax out, I never could get it to work again, so I tossed the whole thing.  The next time I went into the store, I bought one of these kinds that has the heating element instead of the light bulb. 

I don't know if it's because the bowl is shallower and wider, or what, but those wax melts really smell so much stronger.  I'd bought some a while back that were Creamy Cinnamon Clove, and had been so disappointed in them.  They smelled so good in the package, but hardly put out any scent at all in the melter.  

On a whim, I put one into this new melter this morning, and boy howdy the whole kitchen smells soooo good now. That melter was definitely worth the money.  

In knitting news, I finished another square for my sampler afghan.  

Yarn:  Red Heart The Pounder

Colorway:  313 Aran

Pattern:  Annie's Attic Sampler Afghan Square #4

Needles:  US 8/ 5mm

Then I cast on another sailor hat. 

Yarn:  Red Heart Super Saver Bitty Stripes

Colorway:  Rainbow

Pattern:  Basic Beanie

Needles:  US 8/ 5mm

I haven't knit a whole heck of a lot this week, mostly from being so tired when I get home from work.  I hope that once I get back into the routine and more accustomed to the physical exertion, I'll be able to knit more. 

And finally, a bit of sad news, I broke up my gingerbread house this morning to start eating it. 

I figured it would be hard as a rock, because although I had it covered with plastic, it wasn't air tight.  Still, I thought if I dunk it in my coffee or tea, that'll soften it up enough to eat.  

Slowly but surely, I'm getting all of the Christmas sugar either eaten up or vacuum sealed and frozen.  I'm still thinking I might get my new candy molds out and use the leftover chocolate chips to make some of those.  Once they're hardened, I can vacuum seal and freeze those, too.  Then next Christmas, I can make thumbprint cookies and use those for the chocolate bits...

Man, for someone who started this blog saying that nothing happened today, I've sure babbled on a lot.  I guess that means it's time to end this post, and go make myself some popcorn.  

Laters.

I Survived

I survived my first week back at work.  It wasn't easy, but I did it.  I was so tuckered these last couple of nights, I didn't even feel like blogging.  I hope you understand. 

So, what's been going on while I was busy not blogging?  Well, the big news is we got quite a bit of rain yesterday.  So much so, I got out and shaved some of the high spots down in my garden spot before the next round moved in.  

That next round started around 7:00 PM and it pretty much rained all night long.  According to my Raindrop app the two day total adds up to 2.25"  That's rain we desperately need, as pretty much the entire South is in drought conditions.  I know we like to grouse and complain about tropical systems, but those storms proved the majority of the moisture we get, especially in the second half of the year.  

We didn't have a single storm make landfall along the Gulf coast this year, so we're dry.  We're all dry.  Very dry...

I went back out this morning and checked the spot, and there are a few high spots I still need to level out a bit more, but for the most part, it looks pretty good.  Truth is, I could probably leave it the way it is and it would be fine, but I like working in the dirt.  I'm going to miss it when I'm done. 

Speaking of dry, I got my Strikeman dry fire training system out and played with it a bit.  It has a laser cartridge you put into your firearm and your shots register on the app.  I think I did pretty good, considering I haven't shot in ages.  

Unfortunately, because I wasn't logged in to my account, this session wasn't saved.  Now if only I could make myself practice regularly...and get new glasses so I can see clearly, I'll be a pretty good shot.   I'll have to figure out where I can set it up so I can shoot from further away, too.  

Back to the rain... we got a pretty heavy rain yesterday morning while I was at work, and when I was leaving, there was a truck backing out of its spot in front of me.  When he put his truck into drive and took off, water came pouring out of his truck bed.  It put me in mind of something that had happened years and years ago. 

Cody was in kindergarten or first grade, I don't exactly remember, but I had him in a local private school.  They claimed to be a Christian school, but they were more like a whitewashed sepulcher school in my mind.  But that's a different story for a different day. 

I had gotten off of work and was driving down to the school to pick him up, when there on the side of the road, I saw a unit.  An entire unit, like what we make, laying on the side of the road.  I cased coil, for my fellow plant people.  If I remember, it was a Lennox unit, too.  We don't even make those any more, but they were the high dollar brand name units. 

A few days later, the story came out.  There was a man who did the warranty claims.  When a customer sent a unit back because it wasn't working correctly or something else was wrong, this guy built a new unit and sent it back out to that customer.  

This guy -- I'll call him John Doe -- would get a copy of the bill of materials, and he'd come to tubing and say, "I need two of these header assemblies."  Then he'd go to fin press and say, "I need four slabs."  And four delta plates, and two top plates, and no one ever questioned him.  We just gave him what he asked for.  

But what we didn't know is that he was making one unit for the customer, then sneaking the other out the back door, taking them home, and selling them out of a shed in his back yard.  I'm guessing the unit I saw on the side of the road must have fallen out of his truck, and that's what started them looking into the situation. 

The police executed a search warrant and found a shed absolutely full of our coils, and John Doe said with wide eyed innocence, "I have no idea how those got there."  They must have also found drugs, because that's what he went to prison for.  For five years.  

Needless to say, he was also terminated from the plant. 

There was also another man, I'll call him Will Smith -- who used to wad up a small piece of fin stock and carry it out to his truck every day.  Just a little piece, about the size of a tennis ball.  When he got enough built up, he'd take it down to the local scrap metal place and sell it.  Until the day he got caught, that is.  

Ah, fun times at the factory...

Abrupt change of subject, look what I found!

I'd found the cauldron cake a few weeks ago, and found the butterbeer yesterday.  The cauldron cake is pretty good, but I wasn't too impressed with the butterbeer.  Maybe if they'd had the one with sugar in it, it would be better.  Eh, they were fun, but not something I'm going to buy over and over.  

By the time I got home from the store and piddled in the garden spot a bit, I was too tired to do anything, even blog, so I just sat there and watched ...um, college playoff football until it looked like Indiana had the game well in hand, then I went to bed.  I don't know about you, but watching college ball after New Year's Day just feels wrong somehow.  But then, I'm old school, and still think the old ways are better. 

Believe me, I have a whole post about how NIL and the transfer portal are ruining college football rolling around in my head, but I'll save that one for another day.  

Today, well, not much exciting happened.  I finally got around to stripping the sheets off of the guest bed, washing, and replacing them.  Then I did my bed.  And I cleaned up a little bit of the stuff that gets piled on my desk in the spare room. Then I Swiffered the bathroom floor and cleaned the laundry room under the cat pan.  The last thing I did was clean the wood stove and bring in some more wood for tomorrow's impending cold snap.  

This one is supposed to actually stick around for a while, so it's a good thing I bought all of that firewood.  Usually, cold in early January makes me want to put my Christmas stuff back out, but I thing this will have to do.  

I got ChatGPT to turn a photo of my tree into a painting.  I think it did a pretty good job.  I like it anyway. 

And finally, today is the 125th anniversary of the Spindletop gusher in Beaumont, Texas that ushered in the oil industry on a large scale.  As is my custom, last night before I went to bed, I changed my profile picture to a photo of it.  

This morning, I woke up to this:  

Seriously, Facebook?  You don't have anything better to do than to nag me to change my profile picture?  If you can put this into my feed, then you can put my friends' posts into my feed. 

This is why you're a dying platform.  

Peanut Butter

Man, that fog was wicked thick out there this morning.  As thick as peanut butter.  

Heh, I posted that on the book of faces, and one of my oldest childhood friends responded with a photo of Yukon Cornelius.  I knew she wouldn't let me down.  

Anyway, I knew it would be foggy, as we'd been under an advisory since sometime yesterday, but man...I couldn't see anything.  I was driving down 51 Highway -- for you local folks -- and I didn't know where I was.  All I could see was dense fog.  I couldn't see the road, or the houses on the sides of the roads or signs or anything.  Maybe two feet of road in front of the car, and that was it. 

Finally, I got to where I could see the lights of the Ol' Corner Store -- for you local folks -- and that was the first time I even had an inkling of my location.   It was a relief to get my bearings and to know where I was.  

Then I had to turn onto Riverdale Road -- for you local folks.  That was an adventure in itself.  The whole way down that road, I was praying non stop, "Please don't be deer on this road!  Please don't be deer on this road!"  Fortunately, I made it all the way down the road without hitting a deer.

Then I got to the railroad tracks...and this curve.

Image courtesy of Google Earth

There are no lights on that section of the road.  There are no lines on that section of the road.  I was praying -- again, or should I say still -- that I wouldn't drive off of the road and down into the ditch.    

I didn't, and made it to work safely, and all the talk of the morning was the fog.  Everyone was saying the same thing, how they couldn't see and were afraid to hit deer, and one of my coworkers had had a headlight go out.  She said, "I already couldn't see!"  But eventually the sun came up and the fog burned off and talk turned to other matters at hand. 

The question all week has been whether we're back on five days, but nobody seemed to know.  Finally, someone asked Group Leader Shark, and she didn't know, either.  She said she'd asked Inspector Gadget, but he didn't know either.  He said they were going to have a meeting today to decide and they'd let us know. 

Sure enough, right around lunch time, they put out the notice that we are indeed working Friday.  About an  hour after that, HR put out an email that said we are back on our regular five day schedule.  No word yet about Saturdays, though.  One of the parts stagers told me she's over working Saturdays.  

I said, "Yeah, but that's where I get the money I'm saving to fix up my house."  She replied, "I'd like to have the money without having to work to get it!"  So I suggested we move to Minnesota and open up a fake day care.  

OK, moving right along...I don't think I could get by in Minnesota anyway.  Not just because it's cold, but back when I was in the Navy, I once had a bunkmate who was from Minnesota and I'm not kidding, we could not understand each other. It's like we were speaking two separate languages.  

They have strange accents up in the far North.  

By the way, I found out this week that we have a recruiter out at the plant.  Seriously?  A recruiter?  Funny how fast they went from having "a line of people a mile long waiting to get on out here, we don't need you" to needing a recruiter because they can't find anyone who wants to work there. 

That's what happens when you treat your prisoners like garbage.

Oh, did I say prisoners?  I mean employees...just a little Freudian slip, there...

The Last Gift

There I was at work, just a working away, confirming an order in the computer when over in the TXV area, I heard a lot of shouting and screaming. 

Long time readers may remember me referring to a certain coworker as Greedy Bess.  If you don't, you can just click that link above and read about her.  She's a piece of work, I'm telling ya. 

Back to my story, I looked over to where all the shouting was happening, and Greedy Bess and another coworker I'll call Attitude were all up in each other's faces just a going at it.  Another TXV worker walked over and got them separated and calmed down, and I went on about my business.  

Some time later, someone had told me that they were arguing over a fan.  Sheesh....A few minutes after that, I saw Cuz come get Attitude and take her up to the HR office.  A minute or two later, Inspector Gadget came and got all of her stuff and took it up there.  

They'd fired her.  "Seriously?  They fired her for arguing about a fan?"  But no, they'd fired her for cussing out Inspector Gadget.  Oh...yeah, you can't cuss out your supervisor like that.  

The only thing, though, and my coworkers and I discussed this, is that they don't perp walk them out of the plant any more when they fire someone.  Back in the day, they walked them out -- down the main aisle in front of the whole plant so everyone knew they were getting walked out the door.  

Anyway, that's one way to start the new year off with a bang.  

The rest of my day seems dull by comparison, but let me tell you about it anyway.   My last Christmas gift finally arrived.   My brother had told me he'd ordered me something that wouldn't arrive until after Christmas, and it's here!  

It actually got here yesterday, but I was so tired I forgot to tell you about it.  I've been wanting this book for ages, and I've already started reading it.  OK, I read about half of the introduction then fell asleep, but it's a start.  I'm going to go read some more, if I don't fall asleep again.  These 3:30 mornings are a bit rough.

Not much else going on right now.  I'm still trying to get back into the swing of the work routine.  This afternoon, I planted one packet of my bluebonnet seeds, which looks like it might be enough, provided most of the seeds germinate.  The gardening bench my sister sent me really came in handy for that.  It was nice not to have to squat-- which I'm definitely getting too old to do -- or kneel on damp ground.  

On a similar note, my garlic is starting to perk up a bit, but I'm not so sure about the celery.  

Maybe it'll start growing when it warms up some or maybe it won't.  We'll have to wait and see.  

My onions are definitely growing, though.  

The only other thing of note is that I finished my Classical music course from Hillsdale College.  The last lesson was just listening to him play for 45 minutes, which reminds me, I still need to practice my piano.  

I guess I'd better get on that. 

Laters. 

I Did It

I did it.  I survived my first day back at work, but it wasn't easy, I'm telling ya.   When that alarm went off at 3:30, I did not want to get out of bed.  I briefly considered checking my 401(k) to see if I had enough saved up to retire today, but in the end, out of bed I got and to work I went. 

Where nothing had changed, as far as I could tell.  The very first order I set up on was short on adapter tubes -- and I mean short in quantity, not length.  And the second was short on a header, and the third had too many headers and not enough adapter tubes, and the next one had adapter tubes bent wrong...and so on and so forth. 

In other words, business as usual.  

By the way, Salena, Robert brought out some of the 2026 calendars, so I don't need one, but thank you for thinking about it.  😊  I knew you would.  

After work, I ran into Walmart and bought a new computer mouse. 

And it really is lavender.  And it really is silent.  It's a bit disconcerting not to hear the click of the buttons, but I'm slowly getting used to it.  I was clicking four or five times at first, before I remembered it's supposed to be silent.  

While I was there, I took a gander at the coffee makers and found one with the keep warm technology and it was only $13.  

It's not programmable, but it does have auto shut off and anti drip capability.   As soon as I got home, I ran the two cycles of plain water through it, and then made hot water for real.  I now have a bag of Celestial Seasonings Tension Tamer tea steeping and an episode of Call The Midwife on the TV.

I also checked out the Christmas clearance, which was indeed marked down to 90% off.  It was pretty well picked over, but I did get two more boxes of cards, which were only 66 cents each. 

I was thinking I could send some off to Seaman's Church Institute with my next shipment of hats, since they can always use Christmas cards.  The only other thing I got is this cookie cutter with a stencil.  

I debated on whether I would even use it, but it was only 23 cents, so I took a chance.  Since I have so many other cookies in the freezer, I want to do roll out cookies next Christmas, so this will come in handy.   

The last thing I did was to swing by the garden center to see what they had out.  The shelves are still pretty bare, but they're working on filling them up.  They have quite a few seed displays already, so I got two more packets of bluebonnet seeds. 

Tomorrow, I'll plant them in some of the bare spots where the last batch didn't germinate, and we'll just see what comes up.   Over the next few weeks, I'll buy a few more packets to stash in the freezer and plant in September.  

Now if you'll excuse me, 3:30 came mighty early this morning, and I have a mug of hot tea waiting for me.  

Laters. 

Last Day

I woke up this morning at 4:15 ish to answer Nature's call, and as much as I wanted to get back into the bed and go back to sleep, I made myself stay up.  Why?  Because today is my last day of  vacation, and tomorrow I have to start getting up at 3:30 anyway.   

Might as well start getting used to it.   

Just to rub salt into my wounds, I turned on the TV to watch another episode of Miss Scarlett, only to discovered I'd finished the season.  I'd thought I had two more episodes, but no... I was done.  I guess it's back to rewatching Call The Midwife on Netflix for me.  

Truth is, I never intended to rewatch the whole series from season 1, but once I got started, it was too good to stop.  I do so love that show.  It has such a ....cozy... feel, if you know what I mean.  

Then, to add insult to injury, I dropped my computer mouse and broke it.  Fortunately, I had kept the last one just in case.  That one I had spilled coke onto it, and though it works, the little scrolly wheel and buttons are a bit sluggish and sticky, and the right click doesn't work.  

And I can't just use the track pad, because the clicky thing won't click.  I can move the cursor, but can't click on anything.  I'd thought about buying a new laptop, but pretty much the only thing I use it for any more is to write blog posts and stream football games and severe weather live streams.  And to watch YouTube videos without so dadgum many ads.   It works fine for those things. 

I'll just run into town tomorrow after ...sigh...work and get a new mouse.  Plus, I'd overheard one of the employees saying they're going to mark all the Christmas stuff down to 90% off Monday, so maybe I can pick up a few more deals.  And I want to look at coffee makers, too. 

I have one, but it doesn't have the little keep warm plate, which I've suddenly decided I can't live without-- after living without it for all of these years.  

Anyway, in the midst of all of that, I managed to finish my latest hat. 

Yarn:  Red Heart Super Saver Bitty Stripes.

Colorway:  Pink Lemonade

Pattern:  Basic Beanie

Needles:  US 8 / 5 mm 

On a similar note, I was hunting for a certain skein of yarn in one of the stash cabinets a couple of days ago and found a mysterious bag.  

What was that?  And more importantly, what was inside it?  

I dug into the bag and found these.  

What on earth did I need two pounds of yarn for?  Digging further into the bad, I found this,  

and suddenly, it all came clear.  I'd intended to knit this Afghan as a gift for my sister in law probably some 20 or so years ago.  I'd knit two squares, then put it aside and promptly forgot about it. 

I might as well finish that thing, but I don't plan on putting the fringe on it.  I've never been a big fan of fringe on things.  

My biggest concern was wondering if my gauge had changed in the 20 some odd years since I knit the first two squares, so I cast on and whipped out square #3.  

It appears my gauge is still consistent, so no worries there.  

I figure I'll just knit a square here and there when I need a break from hats.  

Now, if you'll excuse me,  I have to go be depressed for the rest of the day, at least until that new American version of Doc Martin comes on.  Best Medicine, it's called.  On FOX.  Premiering after the football game.  

I'll watch it, then either be happy or even more depressed -- depending on how good or bad the show is. 

I'll let you know. 

No Resolutions

I don't make new year's resolutions.  I haven't in a long time.  I do, however, set goals for the year.  

Just not this year.  This year, it's more like a hope for the year.  And one of my hopes for this year is to somehow rekindle the  passion I once had for my piano.   Oh, I still practice every day, even if it's just for a few moments, but right now it feels like I'm just going through the motions.  

I want the passion back that I had when I first decided to take up piano again, when I couldn't wait to get home from work to practice.  I want the passion I had in 5th grade when my teacher had to call me out because I was mentally practicing my music on my school desk.  

I want the passion I see in Jon Schmidt's face when he plays, 

or when Professor Knight plays during my classical music course. 

 

Or the pure joy when I see these two guys playing.

Now, don't misunderstand.  I'm not talking about talent, or skill level.  I know I'll never have the ability to play to their levels.  I'm talking about the pure joy, the love of making music.  That's what I seem to have lost.  I didn't even enjoy playing my Christmas music this time around, and if you know me at all, you know I love my Christmas music.  

If I'm being completely honest, this last year has been rough on me.  I don't know what it is, but I haven't really had the passion for anything for quite some time.  It was one of those years that all I did was to make it through.  And that's OK, but I just want more. 

So, one thing I'm changing is where my piano is.

And before you get all pedantic on my, yes, I know it's technically an electronic keyboard, and a relatively cheap one at that.  I'd love to have a real piano, but where would I put it in this house where I'm already bursting at the seams?  

Anyway, I usually turn it facing the wall like that when I put up my Christmas tree, because it's the only way everything will fit in my tiny living room.  Last year, I left it like that all year to save space in my living room.  I don't know why, but having like that made me not want to practice.  Sometimes, all I would do is run quickly through a song right before I went to bed.  So today, I turned it back around, facing the middle of the room.  

I'm hoping that will inspire me to practice more -- maybe I can multi task while watching TV.  Not the best way to practice, but hey, it's better than not practicing at all. 

One thing I did not do was to make a resolution to not buy new yarn, so I definitely bought new yarn. 

This is more of the Red Heart Bitty Stripes in the Rainbow colorway.  I'm loving this yarn, I'm telling you.  You will also be pleased -- and impressed -- to know that I finally, at long last, seamed up one of my baby surprise jackets that I knit way back in...April?  May?  Whenever it was....

It still needs buttons, but that can wait.  

Yarn:  Red Heart Super Saver Bitty Stripes

Colorway:  Rainbow

Pattern:  Baby Surprise Jacket, by Elizabeth Zimmerman

Needles:  I don't actually remember, it's been so long.  

I have one more to seam up, which I'll try to get to later on today or tomorrow. 

While I was in the store buying yarn -- and a few other essentials -- I took advantage of the clearance sales and picked up few more things.  This cookie dough was marked down from $5 to $1.88, so I got two.  

I've already baked them up, vacuum sealed them, and put them into the deep freeze for next year.   I also thought I'd bake up some more fruit cakes and put them into the deep freeze, but I checked the expiration date on my candied fruit-- 2028.  

 

"Oh!"  I said. "I'll make them next November, when it's fruitcake weather!"  I put them into the back of the pantry, and now I'll have to put a reminder into my phone or I'll forget they're there.  

I hadn't planned on buying any more Christmas cards since I still have so many already, but when I saw these Norman Rockwell designs, I simply couldn't resist.

Nor could I resist when I saw this little Lincoln Logs ornament.  

I immediately thought of my younger brother Scott, and how our grandpa would buy him Lincoln Logs and our mother hated it.  She didn't want us to have things like that...Lincoln Logs, Legos, Play-Doh, Lite-Brite.  I'd have killed for a Lite-Brite, but Mother wouldn't allow it.  

"You'd just lose all the pegs," she'd say.  Or make a mess, or whatever. 

Scott was probably too young to remember the absolute fury on her face when he opened those Lincoln Logs, but there really wasn't anything she could do about it.   One year, my cousin gave him a Kentucky Long Rifle cap gun, which mysteriously disappeared.  Until I found it one day hidden in the back of their closet and gave it back to him.  

Good thing she never found out that was me, or she'd have beaten me black and blue and bloody.  

And finally, this unseasonable warm weather has the trees all confused.  Just look at this: my Dollar General tree is blooming already!

 Each one of these seed pods can grown up to 30 Dollar Generals!  Be on the lookout for new sprouts near you.  

Almost Done

I stayed up until midnight last night, but not on purpose.  

I went to bed right after the ball game ended, but lay there tossing and turning until after 1:00 when I finally drifted off to sleep.  Good thing I didn't have to go back to work today -- although there have been times when I've gone to work on about as much sleep.  As it was, I slept in, not getting out of bed until 7:30 when the cat came to my door insisting that she was starving to death and I needed to get up and feed her.  

I'd planned on getting dressed and going into town for a bit, but Navy played at noon and because I slept in, I didn't want to have to rush, so I decided not to go.  I was watching Miss Scarlett, when I double checked the football schedule to see if I had time for one more episode and...what?  

Navy doesn't play until 3:30!  I can go into town after all.  I started getting ready and for some reason, I stepped out onto the car port and...it was pouring down rain.  I'm not going to town in this mess!  I can wait until tomorrow.  It'll probably be less crowded on a Saturday morning anyway, and there's nothing I can't live without until then. 

I settled in for another episode of Miss Scarlett, then turned on the ...whichever bowl played at noon.  It was Rice vs. North Texas, but I forget which bowl it was.  Whatever.  I turned it on and started taking Christmas decorations down.  As of this writing, it's all down and put away except for the tree.  

I've started taking a few ornaments off, but still have a ways to go.  At this point, I'm going to wait until tomorrow to finish, because Navy is playing in the Liberty Bowl up in Memphis.  I keep saying one of these years I'm going to go to a Navy game when they play in Memphis -- they're in the same conference as the Memphis Tigers-- but so far, I haven't pried my leaden behind out of the chair and done it. 

True to my word, I started culling a bunch of stuff that was either old, or I didn't have room for, or I was just tired of.  Like this garland and these balls for example. 

I've had them for probably 20 years, and have never even taken them out of the packaging.  And this cookie jar.  

It was a gift probably 25-30 years ago, and it's cute, but I don't love it.  If I'm being honest, I never did.  It's time to send it to a family who will.  

Then there was the time I put white icicle lights on my house, and decided I didn't like them and never put them up again.  And I have more garland than I know what to do with, and all of the little nick-nacks and figurines I've collected over the years --including a bunch of nativities from back when I used to collect them.  I had so many, I didn't have room for them all.  I've kept my favorites, but am going to share the rest.  

By the time the dust was settled, I ended up with a pretty good sized box full of stuff to give away.  

Women's size 9 house shoe included for scale, because I don't have any bananas.  

Now comes the hard part -- dealing with people.  I don't know if it's like this in other places, but here you can advertise something for free, someone pops up right away saying he wants it, but never shows up to get it.  Remember that box of mugs and such?  It took two weeks and three different posts before someone finally picked it up.  

On a similar note, I finished off the egg nog and chocolate chip cookies.  I still have a few cherry shortbread and gumdrop cookies, and a little bit of candy.  Once those are gone, that'll be it for the sugar until next year.  Well, mostly...I can neither confirm nor deny that I may or may not treat myself every once in a while.  Provided my blood sugar stays low.  

Somehow in the midst of all of that, I found a hat I'd completely forgotten I had.  

It's pretty lightweight, and will be good for those days when it's chilly, but not cold.  

In other news, my garden staples still haven't arrived -- you know, the ones that were supposed to get here Monday -- so I went to Amazon and cancelled that order.  I'm sure Walmart or Lowe's will have some soon, when they start putting their garden stuff back out.  

And finally, your meme of the day: 

 If this doesn't describe my work place, I don't know what does.  

Happy New Year

I don't think it really needs to be said that I did not stay up until midnight last night, though I was awakened by a barrage of fireworks.  They didn't last too long, though, and I was soon back in dreamland.  

I woke up bright and early this morning facing a new day and a new year full of potential....nah.  All New Year's Day means to me is that my vacation is almost over and I'll have to go back to work soon.  At least this year, we don't have to go back until the 5th, so I have a few more days at least. 

January always feels a bit glum to me, and it's not really that surprising.  I mean, I usually put my Fall decorations out over Labor Day weekend, so I have all of September, October, November, and December full of beauty and lights and then in January, you take it all down and the world just deems gray and dim by comparison.  

Then Spring comes...

That being said, I brought my boxes in from the shed and started taking my Christmas decorations down.  I took all of the outside stuff down and packed it away for the year, and I'm slowly working the inside stuff down as well.  I had to keep reminding myself I've got all weekend to do it, and don't have to rush to get it all down today.  

I think that comes from my childhood experiences.  We always put the tree and all the decorations up on a Saturday morning, then took them down the day we had to go back to school, and it only took a couple of hours and I feel like I should do the same.  But then, we had six pairs of hands doing it back then.  These days, I have to do it all by myself.  

Plus, this year, I'm considering seriously culling quite a few of my decorations that I don't put out or have gotten tired of.  Or stuff that was given to me that I never really liked, but kept because I felt guilty wanting to get rid of it...but don't tell anyone, and they'll never know. 

By the way, I did not put the new strings of lights on my tree.  You know, the ones I'd bought to replace those that got chewed by rats or whatever it was.  I'll do that next year, probably kicking myself for not going ahead and doing it now.  

Anyway, I woke up early enough I was able to watch two episodes of season 6 of  Miss Scarlett -- it used to be Miss Scarlett and The Duke, until The Duke left the show-- on PBS because I have the Passport and am too impatient to wait for it to come on TV before the parade came on.  I managed to catch a somewhat blurry photo of the Mississippi float, but it was difficult because of the raindrops on the camera lens.  

Their camera, not mine.  It was raining pretty hard there for a while, but slacked off a bit by the time the parade started.  I was pleasantly surprised to see Grenada native Charlie Worsham on the float, because I had no idea he'd be there. He sang Rainbow Connection, then a song about Mississippi and I wonder if he wrote that one himself, because he does write some of his own music.  A few years ago, he even acted in an episode of Bones, playing a murdered country music singer.  Hang on, let me find it...

Ah yes, season 9 episode 13:  Big In The Philippines.  

OK, moving right along...heh, see what I did there?  Well, if you've never seen The Muppet Movie, you won't, but um...moving right along...I got out my last (I think) home made fruit cake and sliced it for breakfast while I was watching the parade.  There might still be one in the deep freeze, but I don't know for sure. 

I think fruitcake gets a bad rap, especially from people who've never even tried it.   I'm sure part of that is because when they hear the word cake, they think of something light and fluffy like a wedding cake, which fruitcake is definitely not.  It was developed in ancient times as a way to preserve fruit, which made it naturally dense and heavy.  It may have evolved from ancient Roman military rations called satura, which is barley mash, pomegranate seeds, pine nuts, and raisins, mixed together with honeyed wine.  Of course, Rome conquered England, so they probably brought it with them and eventually it developed into the holiday treat we have today.  

Now that you know more than you ever wanted to about fruitcake, you really should give it a chance.  Fair warning, though, the store bought versions can be a crap shoot.  I'd always had homemade fruitcake, so that's what I liked.   One year, when I was in the Navy, I bought one and it was awful.  I said, "Ugh, no wonder people don't like this stuff!"  But the little Claxton Fruit Cakes that I buy are pretty good.  

While I was watching the parade and snacking on fruitcake, I finished the hat I was working on. 

Yarn:  Red Heart Super Saver Bitty Stripes

Colorway:  Crayon Box

Pattern:  Basic Beanie

Needles:  US 8 / 5 mm

Then, while watching Texas Tech and Alabama get absolutely stomped in their playoff games and wondering who on earth chose them over Texas -- who won 41-27 over Michigan in the Citrus Bowl-- I cast on another one. 

Yarn:  Red Heart Super Saver Bitty Stripes

Colorway:  Pink Lemonade

Pattern:  Basic Beanie

Needles:  US 8 / 5 mm

I do like to send a few in more feminine colors from time to time, because women work on ships, too.  I'm sure at least some of them would be happy to get something that looks a little more girly.  And men can wear pink, too.  Ain't no shame in that. 

In keeping with the holiday spirit, here is your meme of the day:  

 I wish you all a very blessed and prosperous 2026.