First Quarter

 Today is March 31, which means one quarter of the year is gone.  I kinda figured I'd do this back when I was setting my goals for the year.  I kinda figured I'd do quarterly updates on how those goals were progressing.

Anyway, just in case you don't recall, my goals for the year were:

1.   Don't buy new yarn
2.  Try to find things to knit that will use up stash yarn
3.   Work on reducing my number of WIPs

So far, I've done well in meeting my goals.  I haven't bought any new yarn at all, but I haven't used up any stash yarn yet.  That's just because I haven't cast on anything new.  I've been working almost exclusively on WIPs-- and a group charity project that I'm not counting. 

When I posted my first WIP update back in January, I had 18.  The current number stands at 12. 

Anyway, here's a rundown of the WIPs I've finished this year. 


1. Charity scarf--

2. Bubble Wrap socks:

3. Hurricane Hat:

4. Sport Weight Socks:

5. Braided Cable Tam:

I had one more WIP-- the sock that Jesse got ahold of.  I ripped and rewound it, to be cast on again at a later date. 

So, there you have it.  In three months, I've managed to reduce my number of WIPs by 30%.  Of course, now that I'm getting to the larger --as in lace-- projects, it won't go so quickly any more. 

And it won't go at all if I don't get off of here and get back to knitting!

Dear CoWorker

Normally, I'm not one to tell other people how to raise their children.  However, in your case, I really, really, really wish someone had made your mama teach you the value of personal hygiene. 

Thank you.

That is all.

A Thousand Words

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so just consider this a two thousand word blog post.

Eggs

Azalea

I'm getting kind of frustrated.  As I walked out to take my daily photo of the bird eggs, I checked on my plum trees.  The vines --both honeysuckle and poison ivy-- are starting to climb up the trunks again.  I want to get it all cut back, but boy do I not want to go through all this itching again.

This is one of the rare few moments I wish I had a man in my life.  If I did, I'd just say, "Honey, go get all that poison ivy out of my plum trees." 

And he'd say, "OK" and do it, because he loves me like that. 

You know it's true love when you'll take on poison ivy for a person. 

But, as there is no man in my life, I guess I'll just have to invest in a hazmat suit.  Anyone know where I can get one for cheap?

New Glasses

But first, let me do a WIP update, since it's been about 3 weeks since I've posted one. I'm going to try something different this time.  I'm going to bump the ones I actually worked on to the top of the list.  Maybe I won't lose you so quickly then. 


1.  Charity Scarf:  I've been working on this one some.

2.  Arwen Wrap:  and I worked a bit on this one, too.

3.  The 2010 Anniversary Mystery Shawl.  I did a few rounds on this. 

4.  2011 Anniversary Mystery Shawl.  But they all got set aside to finish up this one.  I've finally picked it back up, and made it a priority.  I finished chart 4 and have started chart 5.  There aren't that many rows left, but they are sooo long at this point that I only get a couple of rows a day finished.

5. Conwy sock:  No progress this week

6. Traveling Roses Scarf: No progress this week.

7. Garter Rib Scarf: No progress.

8. Fruit Of The Vine  scarf: Ditto.

9. Orkney Pi Shawl:  No progress

10.  Leper bandage: This is my new waiting project.  When I'm on my excruciatingly slow desktop and I'm waiting 20 years for a page to load, I pick it up and knit a row or two. 

11 & 12. The two sock yarn blankies. No new squares this week.

I took half a day off yesterday to go to the eye doctor.  He said my prescription hasn't changed, but he did give me a slightly stronger bifocal spot.  He said most people will just pull their glasses off to read, but I need to be able to see my lace and the TV at the same time.  And besides, it's been 2 1/2 years since I've gotten new glasses anyway, so might as well get ones that I can see through. 

I was disappointed, as usual, in the frame styles.  Most are tiny little coke bottle cap sized frames, and I can't stand them.  I've been hoping that bigger frames will come back into style, but so far, no luck.  I'm stuck peering through peephole sized lenses for a little while longer.

Well, somehow I thought I'd have more to say about that...

I love taking half days off--really even more than whole days.  There's just something about slinging my tool bag over my shoulder and walking out at lunch time.  I really ought to do that more often.

Just Stuff

I've been slipping out every day to take pictures of my eggs, though nothing is happening right now.

I finally got out there without all 50 dogs, and was able to get a glimpse of the mama bird. After I quick look around the internet, I managed to correctly identify her as a redwinged blackbird. That's what had me confused, since she is neither black, nor red winged. She looks rather like a big sparrow.

On the way back to the house, I stopped to check the plum trees, and look what I found.

Baby plums!

My steroids are already working.  My redness and swelling are already going down.  Unfortunately, one of the side effects of the steroids is already kicking in.  I'm starving.  All the time.  Well, there goes my diet.  Good thing I only got the 6 day course...

Dr. Reid is so funny.  I was going to include this in yesterday's post, but it just didn't work with the flow, so I'll tell you it here. 

I showed him how much the whelp on my right arm was poking out, and how red it was, and that it was hurting more than itching (he said sometimes they do that), and said,  "I decided I'd go to the doctor while I still could go to the doctor." 

That got him wound up.  He got to fussing and almost didn't stop.

He was fussing about the electronic records they're now required to keep, and all the doctors there hate it.  The only good thing about it is that he can send prescriptions straight to the pharmacy. 

He fussed about how they want to cap doctors' salaries.  He said it's a calling, but still there's got to be some incentive for young people to enter the field.  There's a lot involved in becoming a doctor-- he went to school until he was 30-- and he deserves to make more than a plumber or a ditch digger, but the government wants everyone to make the same amount of money no matter what they do. 

He fussed about how little Medicare pays, but he can't just not treat old people.  He said,  that's what we do."  He said it's a calling, it really is, but medicine already isn't what it used to be, and if things keep going the way they are, nobody's going to want to become a doctor any more.  He's already got himself a side business that he can fall back on if things become so onerous that he just can't stand it any more.  He can quit being a doctor and just do that. 

So, there you have it, straight from a real doctor's mouth to my ears.  Obamacare won't make anything better for anyone.  Not patients.  Not doctors. 

It MUST be overturned. 

Oh Yeah

Oh, yeah, I knew it was there.

I knew there was poison ivy in that there plum tree. I knew what it looked like. And I knew it was poison ivy I was yanking out of that there plum tree.

What I didn't know was that my long sleeved shirt and leather gloves wouldn't protect me from the poison ivy that was in that there plum tree.

It showed up yesterday morning. Big, itchy blotches over both forearms. The one on my right arm covered nearly half my forearm. The one on my left arm almost as big.

After a nearly sleepless night of itching, after waking myself up several times scratching, after lying awake to the sound of said poison ivy cackling maniacally at the Benadryl I was futilely bombarding it with, I decided this morning that I would go to the doctor and get something a little stronger, to clear it up a little faster.

Off to the doctor I went...

I saw Dr. Reid this time. He is a hoot. While my regular doctor, Dr. Armstrong, is fairly quiet, Dr. Reid will talk your ear off. He's a bit of a clown, too. First thing he said to me was, "Ah! Someone I can actually help! All these other people have been coming in here today, and I don't know what's wrong with them. But you, I can help."

I came home with some steroids, and some ointment and it's working already. But that's not important.

The key phrase in that story up above...can you guess what it is?

"I decided"

I decided. Yeah, I knew the poison ivy would clear up on its own in a couple of weeks. But I decided I didn't want to itch for a couple of weeks. I knew there was stuff available over the counter, but I decided I wanted to get the good stuff, even if it meant paying a little more.  I knew it wasn't a medical emergency, but I decided I didn't want to deal with it.  I knew it wasn't even remotely life threatening, but still I decided I wanted treatment.  I decided I wanted to feel better sooner, rather than later. 

So, I decided to go to the doctor.

Whether I will be able to make those decisions for myself in the future is being debated before the Supreme Court even now.  I don't hold out much hope, since one of the justices hearing the case wrote the law.  She wrote the flipping law and has refused to recuse herself from the case.  I guess we already know which way Obama's "wise Latina" is going to rule.

Here's a clue...not with the Constitution.

It's a frightening prospect, if the Supreme Court does not rule in favor of freedom.  Those kinds of decisions-- like the one I made today-- will be taken out of our hands, out of our doctors' hands, and placed in the hands of a faceless bureaucracy who sees you not as a person, not as a human being, but will weigh you in terms of an asset or a liability.

It will be he, not you, who will determine if you deserve medical treatment.  It will be he, not your doctor, who will decide what treatments are not the most effective, but the most cost effective.  It will be the government, not the physician,  who decides who receives medical treatments and what those treatments will be. 

It will be the government who will decide who lives and who dies.

And then, my friends, we will be under the thumb of a tyranny much greater than what our ancestors fought to throw off.

Our forefathers must be so ashamed of us.  They would have been shooting long before now.

Eggies!

We got off work a little early today, so when I got home, I took my handy dandy bucket of gardening tools out and worked some more on the trees in the back yard.  I've gotten the plum trees mostly cleared of poison ivy and honeysuckle-- at least as high as I can reach. 

So I started on the pear trees.  There I was, yanking away at the honeysuckle when all of the sudden my production came to a screeching halt. 

And there will said production remain halted until such time as the baby birds are able to leave the nest.

I'm going to try to sneak out and get pictures -- well, I'm going to try every day, though I don't know if I'll make it every day. I just hope I didn't rattle the mama too much and she abandons the nest. I tried to drape some of the vines I'd cut off back over the branches the way they had been, so that the nest was a little more sheltered.

We'll see. It'll be exciting to see if they do hatch. I've never watched baby birds hatch, except for when we had chickens, of course. Usually the nests are way too high.

This is going to be fun!

Good News

Good news on the work front.  They announced today that sales are exceeding their forecast, so maybe we'll get some decent overtime this year.  Just thought I'd throw that out there.

You know, our first production superintendent, Ray, well, he was crazy.  I mean, not quite right in the head.  OK, really not right in the head.  He had us working 12 hours a day, 5 days a week, PLUS 10 hours on Saturdays and Sundays.  I don't miss that at all.

I do miss those paychecks, though.

I was on second shift back then, and Cody was only 2.  I was working 3:00 PM to 3:00 AM.  A two year old doesn't understand that mommy needs to sleep in.

One day, at three in the morning, I was waiting to get off work and Ray waltzed by and said, "Are we all ready to go home and get 8 or 9 hours of sleep?"

I said, "Huh!  I wish I could get that much."  Ray asked how many hours of sleep I usually got, and I replied, "Three, if I'm lucky."   He just said, "Oh" and walked off, but the 12 hour shifts didn't stop.  Not until Ray got fired. 

No one knows for sure why.  Rumor has him getting caught stealing.  Other rumors have him getting caught sleeping with several of the employees.  I'm more inclined to believe the second one, because I knew for sure at least one woman out there was messing with him.  Ray's wife had never moved here when he got the job.  This woman was telling how she went over to his house one night and his wife answered the door.  (I don't remember what happened-- it was a long time ago.)

Ray wanted to buy my first trailer house.  I was OK with that, but told him he'd have to move it.  He didn't want that.  He wanted me to move into town and let him live in my house where it sat.  I explained that I didn't own that land.  My cousins do.  He said he'd pay lot rent.  I told him that they wouldn't do that to me.  They weren't going to make me pay lot rent in a trailer part while he sat there on that land.  So, he said I'd never get moved to day shift then...

When he left, the guy who took his place, Brent Burton, we all loved him.  I explained to him how Ray had done me, and Brent got me moved to day shift.  Good thing, too, because Cody started kindergarten that fall.  If I'd had stayed on second shift, I'd have never gotten to see him, because I'd have to be at work before he got out of school.  Then he'd be asleep before I got off work.  Those few minutes in the morning getting him ready would be it. 

Sheesh, who needs reality TV?  Life has enough drama as it is.

Anyway...

My little seeds are growing like weeds.  Unfortunately, this is where it gets iffy.  They usually sprout well, then after about two or three weeks, they just all die.  I've never figured out why.  I hope these do better.

Hi Jesse!!

No, he's not getting over his camera shyness. He was outside, and I took the picture through the window. But when I got the camera and tried to take a picture directly, he still went and hid.  I guess it's good my phone takes pretty decent photos.  At least he's not afraid of that. 

And finally, your quote for the day:

"There is a just God who presides over the destines of nations ... who will raise up friends to fight our battle for us. The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave. ... Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death." --Patrick Henry on this day, 1775

Perfect

It's perfect.  This moment in time.  It's absolutely perfect.

It's one of those magical spring days when it's cool enough to open the windows, yet warm enough to leave them open.  So rare in the South where winter usually dives headfirst into summer. 

It's quiet.  I haven't turned the TV on at all.  The only sounds I hear are the soft singing of crickets, Rylea contentedly crunching her chewy stick, the almost inaudible click and scrape of my knitting needles.  An occasional car drives by. 

Jesse snores softly at my feet, the warmth of his fur comforting.  Inviting. I sink my toes into it.  Cozy.  Snuggly. 

Off in the distance a frog chirps, bringing a momentary wave of homesickness.

In a world in which I am constantly bombarded by noise, these moments are few and far between.  I must enjoy them while I can.

These few moments of quiet contentment.

These few moments of peace. 

The Kindle Is Watching You

Ever since I got my Kindle last spring, I've wanted to take it to work with me, so I can read on my lunch break.  However, working in a factory, I was kinda scared to do that.  What if it got broken or stolen?

But then, I figured out something.  I went to Amazon.com, downloaded the Kindle app to my phone, then a book to my Kindle app on my phone.  Yay!  I could read at work!

Thanks to a tip from a friend, when I got home yesterday evening, I was able to sync my Kindle to the same page I left off on the phone app.  I was rolling.  What I wasn't sure of, though, was how to sync my phone app to the Kindle.

At lunch today, I opened the app, all prepared to flick through the until I got to where I'd left off last night when I was greeted with a message that said

You read to page such and such on the device called Becky's Kindle last night at such and such o'clock.  Would you like to go to that page now?

Cool!  And a little scary.  My Kindle is watching me.

But the good news is I can read on my lunch break at work, now!  Without having to worry about the Kindle getting broken, or a book getting torn or grease stained.

Books.  You remember those.  The bulky things with the weird paper pages.

Yeah...those. 

Happy Vernal Equinox!

I would say happy first day of Spring, but Spring is already on the way out here.  The daffodils have quit blooming.  The plum and Bradford pear trees are green. 

And the temps are in the mid 80s. 

Nevertheless, according to the calendar, it is the first day of Spring, so Happy Spring!

Monday Blues

Part of the reason you no longer get witty and entertaining blog posts is because my computer has gotten so frustratingly slow.  I've done all the tricks-- defragging, clearing cache and cookies, etc, etc., but it hasn't helped.  So, by the time I get the page opened up and everything, I'm so aggravated that whatever it was I wanted to post about has long since fled my conscious.

I've got some pretty good stuff rolling around in my head, too.  I still haven't forgotten that book review, even though I've read two more books since then.

I've got one about a meme I've been seeing on FB, and one about judging people.

But for right now, you've just got to settle for some football talk-- and a music video at the end.

You know the Colts cut Peyton Manning, right?  Well, it seems he has finally settled on a team, the Denver Broncos.  Now the Broncos are looking to trade Tim Tebow.   I'm no expert, but this seems like a bad move to me.  After all, Peyton is getting on up there.  He'll be 36 on Saturday, which in football years is like 70.  Plus, he's had this neck thing going on that kept him out of the entire 2011 season.  There's no guarantee he'll be able to play again at all, much less up to the level he was playing before.

The good news is, Matt Flynn has signed with the Seahawks where he will compete with Tavaris Jackson for the starting job.  Matt is probably the most under rated QB in recent history.  The Packers didn't draft him until the 7th round, but by the end of training camp his rookie year, he'd beaten out second round pick Brian Brohm for the #2 spot.  By the end of the next training camp, the Pack cut Brohm.  They didn't need him.  They had Flynn.  Though he's only gotten two starts, he nearly pulled off the upset of the Patriots in 2010, and this past season he threw for 6 touchdowns in the season finale against the Detroit Lions.

And everybody forgets that he did win a National Championship when he was at LSU.

Yeah, I think he'll be OK.

Finally, the Cowboys have signed Kyle Orton to back up Tony Romo after Jon Kitna announced his retirement.  And the fans are once again displaying their stupidity in all its glory.  "Finally, someone to light a fire under Romo."  Morons.  Are you so ignorant of the game that you really think Romo needs someone to push him? Come on, the man played nearly an entire game with a punctured lung.  If that isn't enough fire for you, then there's no pleasing you. 

Another one that gets me is, "Come on, Jerry, loosen up the purse strings a little".  Dummy.  Don't you know there is such a thing as a salary cap?  Jerry can't loosen up the purse strings any more.  Especially not after Goodell slapped that $10 million fine on them for breaking a rule that wasn't a rule back when he broke it.  Besides that, the league approved every single contract during that uncapped year, and now, two years later, they want to say, "Oh no, you shouldn't have done what we said you could do."  So the other 30 teams (the Redskins were also slapped with a similar fine) get to share that money.  Even though they did the same thing and weren't penalized for it.

Sheesh, who needs reality TV when you have football?

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I guess I ought to acknowledge it.  Somehow, I don't think this will quite do.



OK, how about a little Irish history?



No? Well, alright, then.  I'll just leave you with this good, old hymn.



Yeah, I know it's not Irish, but then neither am I. 

Happy St. Patrick's day anyway!

Dear CoWorker

Yes, you may have a tissue.  You may have several tissues.  You may have the whole box of tissues if you'd like, but there is really no need to show me the snot dripping down your upper lip.

Seriously, dude.

Thank you.

That is all.

That Time Of Year

Yes, it's that time of year again. Spring time, when a young man's fancy turns to love...

No, no, no...it's time for the Anniversary Mystery Shawl once again! And yes, I signed up for it once again.

I guess I need to get busy and finish last year's shawl.

And the year before's shawl...

Right.

Guess I'd better get busy.

Busy, busy, busy...

Ah, Springtime...

A few years ago, I bought a begonia on clearance at Wal-Mart.  The tag said that they are easy to care for, and that's what I needed.  Well, despite my best efforts, in a few weeks, the begonia had died.

I used to have flower beds, back when I worked on second shift.  I could get up in the mornings, and work in them before it got so hot.  When I got moved to day shift, though, by the time I got home, it was too hot and I was too tired to care.  So, I let them go.

Lately, I've been bitten by the gardening bug again.  This time around, however, I decided to go with annuals instead of perennials.  That way, if I decide once again that gardening just isn't for me, it won't be like I've made a long term commitment to a plant.

You know how I feel about this whole long term commitment thing.   It's the main reason I'm not married.

A lot of people were posting on FB about that TV show The Bachelor.  I've never seen an entire episode, but I have seen parts of shows, and plenty of previews.  To me, the whole idea of going on a reality TV show to try to find love is just pathetic.  It makes me feel a whole lot better about my love life.

I could have a love life, if I really wanted one.  I may not be stunningly gorgeous, or have ginormous bazonkers, but I am beatin' 'em off with a stick-- in some cases, literally.

Like today, I was at work, brazing away, when one of my coworkers bumped into me.  It's very crowded where I work, and this happens a lot.  I turned around and jokingly said, "Are you trying to snuggle up to my backside?"

To which he replied, "I'd rather snuggle up to your front side."  And I said, "But my front side is where the fire is."  And he...

Um, let's just leave that one alone, OK?  This is a family blog, you know.

Now, where were we...supposed to be talking about flower gardens, yes...So, this time around, I decided I'd go with annuals.  I was looking through my Burpee's catalog, in the annuals section, when there they were.  Begonias.

Huh?  Begonias are annuals?  No wonder mine died.

In the past, I'd never had much luck starting plants from seeds.  They'd do fine for a week or two, then all of a sudden they'd just die.  I never knew why.  But, seeing as how I really wanted to get started on my flower beds, and this early in the year there's still the chance of a late frost, I decided to take another stab at it.  So, after work today, I went out to Wal-mart and bought a Jiffy Greenhouse thingy

And a few packets of seeds. 

I got Zinnias, Petunias, Four 'O Clocks, and Cosmos.  I figured, "eh, why not?"  If they grow, great.  If not, Wal-mart will have flats of Petunias out later on anyway.  Probably Zinnias, too.  I'll just get some of them.

So, I took them home and got most of the seeds planted. 

At first, I didn't think I'd need all those starter pot thingys, but as it turns out, I needed more.  I've still got some Zinnia and Cosmos seeds left. I don't know if I want to get another greenhouse thingy, or just wait and plant them in the yard.

If James ever gets the garden spot plowed up, and the electric fence around it, I'm going to ask for a little corner of that to put my flowers in.

But I won't be saying, "Might I have a bit of earth?".

He'd look at me like I was nuts.

Dear CoWorker

When you are trying to impress someone, bragging about how dumb you are is probably not the best course of action.

Unless you're doing it in Latin.  Everything is more impressive in Latin.


Thank you.

That is all.

Galveston

My daddy was born in 1926, which means he grew up during the Great Depression.  Though his family did a lot better than many during that time, vacations were something they could only dream of.

He only told me of one vacation that they were able to take, and it was to Galveston Island.

When we were kids, we went to Galveston every year, at least once.  We took other vacations from time to time, but most years, we went to Galveston.  Even after my parents discovered it was cheaper to rent a house on the Bolivar peninsula, we just slept there.  The vacation was in Galveston. 

July 1995, my sister was home on leave from the Navy, and Dad rented a cabin on the beach.  Cody and I went down for the long weekend, but we couldn't stay the whole week.  We drove home on the 4th.  Ten days later, my daddy died.

I'm glad, then, that the last time I saw him was on the beach.  Walking the Strand.  Eating at Fisherman's Wharf.  Driving the seawall.  Riding the ferries. 

I'm glad, then, that the last time I saw him was at Galveston. 

It was my dad's happiest place on earth. 

It's Going To Be

a rough night tonight.

I just love this time of year. 

/sarcasm

More News

I found out a little bit more about what happened to my co-worker. 

This was his first week back after having had surgery, and they'd sent him over to train on a panel bending machine.  Well, the guy who was training him had gone to the bathroom or something.  Johnny -- that's his name, Johnny Spencer-- had shut the machine off and gone into it to change the setup.  The guy who was training him came back and apparently didn't see Johnny over there, since the control panel is several feet away from the machine itself. 

Ironically, they do that for safety reasons. 

Anyway, he didn't see Johnny over there and for some reason turned the machine back on, with Johnny still inside it.  It grabbed him up and started bending him.  It's designed to bend steel panels.  As soon as the guy realized what had happened, he hit the emergency stop button, but it was too late to prevent serious injury.  However, the head of the maintenance department said that if he'd been a half second slower, that machine would have cut Johnny in half and most likely would have killed him. 

They didn't even bother with the local hospital.  They airlifted Johnny straight to Jackson, which means the life flight helicopter picked him up from the plant.  I heard the helicopter go over the house, but because it was so low, it was very loud.  I thought it was one of the Army helicopters, since they were practicing with the airplanes and stuff.  It wasn't until I got to work this morning that I found out it was Lifeflight. 

He is in the hospital in Jackson now, with a crushed pelvis and a broken leg-- plus whatever internal injuries he may have suffered.  Y'all be much in prayer for him and his family.

Also be in prayer for the man who turned the machine on.  He didn't mean to hurt anyone.  They said that when he saw, he crumpled like tissue paper.  Think about how you would feel, if you'd almost killed someone. 

That's all I know right now.  They won't give us any updates out at the plant, but Johnny is a member of my church, so maybe I'll find out how he's doing from other church members.  I'll be sure to pass any information along to you, too.

Bad Accident

Bad accident at work.

Bad, bad, bad...

Bad enough that they called an ambulance out there. 

They'd shut down my line, and sent me over to tubing to help out there.  I was working away, when I heard a panic stricken voice page the shift supervisor.  Then an even more panic stricken voice paged the safety guy.  

I'm not exactly sure what happened or how it happened.  All I know for sure is that one of my co-workers got hung up in a machine somehow.  It's a machine that bends steel panels.  Somebody told me that the steel grabbed his leg and jerked him into the machine.  Someone else said his whole body was crushed. 

I haven't heard anything else about it. 

Sad part about it, it was the guy's first week back after having had surgery.  And this happens.  I only hope he's OK.

See, that's a problem where I work.  We complain and complain about safety hazards, but nobody listens. 

Until somebody gets hurt.

Then they hoot and holler and screech and scream and ask why nobody reported it. 

We did.  Why didn't you listen? 

Mail!

I love mail.

Nifty stuff comes in it.

Sometimes, not so nifty stuff comes in it, too. Like bills, but let's not talk about that, shall we?

I used to get a catalog years ago that was mostly flowers and bulbs and such.  I can't remember what the name of it was.  I ordered from it all the time.  But when I got moved to day shift, I let my flower beds go.

I eventually stopped ordering from them, and they eventually stopped sending the catalogs.

Lately, I've been getting the gardening bug again.  I went online and tried to find those old catalogs, but couldn't.  I found Burpee's, which is well known, and Gardener's Supply.  I haven't had a chance to look through either one of them yet, though today would have been a good day to do just that.  It started raining shortly after I got home from work, and hasn't stopped yet.

The Avon book I've had a few days, but haven't had a chance to look at it yet, either.

I've been too busy reading.   

Ah, it's still too early to plant anything anyway.  There's always a chance of a late frost. 

WIPs on Wednesday

Tonight, a semi- local (Tupelo area) restaurant is going to be featured on the Food Network show Restaurant Impossible.  I'm looking forward to watching it, so today's blog post is going to be a quickie.  It may not seem quick, but most of it is copied and pasted from last week anyway.  I don't have a whole heck of a lot of progress to report as it is, because most of my time has been taken up with a stealth project. 

1.   Conwy sock:  No progress this week

2.  Traveling Roses Scarf: No progress this week.

3.  Arwen Wrap:  I got a few rows done this week, but not enough to show up in a photo.

4. Garter Rib Scarf: No progress.

5.  The 2010 Anniversary Mystery Shawl.  No progress this week. 

6.  2011 Anniversary Mystery Shawl.  No progress this week...

7.    Fruit Of The Vine  scarf: Ditto.

8.  Orkney Pi Shawl:  No progress

9.  Another Charity Scarf:  It's been whispering my name for several days.  Well, the whisper got loud enough that I attached a second ball of yarn and knit a few rows. 

10.  Leper bandage: This is my new waiting project.  When I'm on my excruciatingly slow desktop and I'm waiting 20 years for a page to load, I pick it up and knit a row or two. 

11 & 12.  The two sock yarn blankies. No new squares this week.

Wanna hear something funny?  I was watching reruns of Cake Boss on Netflix streaming, and they were all in Italy.  Well, the wives went shopping, and one of them picked out a swimsuit for her husband.  It was red and had a little izod alligator on it. 

My first thought when I saw it was, "She went all the way to Italy to buy him a Florida Gator swimsuit?" 

Yeah, I watch too much football. 

Four Special Days

Remember the Alamo!

On this day in 1836, The Alamo fell to overwhelming Mexican forces.  "Remember the Alamo" became the rallying cry which propelled the Texans to finally defeat the Mexican army at San Jacinto, thus winning independence for the Republic of Texas.  

Happy 100th Birthday Oreo Cookie

You need no introduction.

Happy Birthday, Elizabeth Barrett Browning

How Do I Love Thee? (Sonnet 43)
by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. I love thee to the depth and breadth and height My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight For the ends of being and ideal grace. I love thee to the level of every day's Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light. I love thee freely, as men strive for right. I love thee purely, as they turn from praise. I love thee with the passion put to use In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith. I love thee with a love I seemed to lose With my lost saints. I love thee with the breath, Smiles, tears, of all my life; and, if God choose, I shall but love thee better after death.

Happy Anniversary to Me

Finally, 19 years ago today, I married the father of my son. Not the love of my life, but since I was pregnant, I felt like I had to go through with it. It wasn't the first mistake I've made, and certainly wasn't the last.


My marriage didn't even last a year, so I can honestly say that I've never had a wedding anniversary.

However, I did end up with a son who, despite my best efforts to totally screw him up, has somehow become a man I am very proud of.  

Storm Footage

Back in the day, tornadoes used to be a recurring nightmare theme for me.  There was one particularly bad one in which I told myself, "This has got to be a dream."  Then I slammed my elbow into a cinder block wall and it hurt so badly that I concluded, "No, this is no dream.  I'm awake."

Fortunately it was just a dream. 

I don't have tornado nightmares as often any more, but I still do have them occasionally. 

I have a feeling that is about to change.



Yeah...

It was rough at work today.  They've decided that each line needs to run a minimum of 500 units per shift.  That doesn't make sense to me, because we've never been able to consistently run 400 units per line.  Now we're all of the sudden supposed to add another 100.  Naturally, instead of fixing the REAL problems the plant has, they've decided that the boss is going to run up and down the line, slapping his hands together, and shouting, "Come ON!  Let's GO!  Let's get MOVING!" All.  Day.  Long. 

I guess he doesn't realize that all he's doing is making people nervous and jumpy-- and angry.  Except me.  I just ignore him.

When my sister was little, she couldn't say ignore.  She said goodnore.

That's what I was doing.  I was goodnoring him.  

I've been doing that job for seventeen years.  I don't need somebody yelling at me like I'm a dog for me to know what I'm supposed to do. 

I finally broke down and bought The Hunger Games for my Kindle.  I've heard so much about it, plus the previews for the movie looked pretty good.  I'd better get to reading. 

And I still haven't forgotten my review of Unwind.  It's coming.  I promise.

I guess I'd better get busy, huh?

It Always Amazes Me

It always amazes me how skies that can produce so much death and destruction one day, can be so beautiful the next.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to all those affected by the storms yesterday. Things got a little hairy here for a minute, but the worst of it passed to the North of us. We didn't even lose power, though I had both the phone and the kindle fully charged-- just in case.

Today proved blessedly noneventful. Yes, my big excitement for the day was to head back into town and get a new pair of rubber boots.

I went back to Wal-mart, thinking that they might have gotten some more in since Thursday.  Sure enough, they had some in my size.

As soon as I got home, I put them on, went out, and worked on clearing off some more honeysuckle from my plum trees.  I'm to the point now that I have to get somebody with a chainsaw to come cut down the other trees that have grown up through the plums.  Might as well get the elm tree out of the pear tree and I can work on that one, too.

Jake did help me with one.  I'm not sure what kind of tree it was, because it hadn't leafed out yet.  I was pulling the vines out of the top of it, and Jake grabbed them and started pulling, too.  After I'd cut the honeysuckle loose, the tree didn't snap back up. I shook it a few times, but it just laid there, draped across a few dead plum branches.

"Something is wrong with this tree," I said to myself.  When I walked around the plum tree and looked, Jake had broken that tree right in half.   It was a  young tree, too, green and alive.  About twice as big around as a broom handle, and he broke it like it was an old twig.

You know, sometimes people ask me if I'm afraid, living without a man in my house.  I just smile, and say, "nope".