So Not Ready

I am so not ready for this.

So not ready.  Can somebody make it winter again?  And it's still April -- for a few more hours at least.  I broke down and turned on the A/C when I got home, because it was nearly 80' in the house.  I have to be miserably hot at work, but by golly, I'm going to be comfortable at home.

BTW, that is 30' for you Celsius speakers.


Speaking of work, there I was at work, just a working away, when my coworker said, "Becky, where's your stalker?"

"SHHHHHHH!"  I practically shrieked.  "Don't talk him up!"

But she didn't.  He wasn't there today, and we all got to work in peace.  I know, we call him my stalker, but really, all the brazers feel harassed and stressed out by him standing over us.   It was nice to be able to just relax and get some work done for a change. 

So what did I do with all that non-harassed time?  Well, I didn't have a sea chanty for my ear worm today, believe it or not.  No, this was the song that kept running through my head. 



The only problem was, I kept stopping myself to mentally correct the historical errors contained within the song.  I'm too much of a history nerd to let such things slip by.  You know, like the line in the sand.  That's largely myth.  And one man did slip out and escape later that night.  Stuff like that. 

But it did put me in the mood to start reading a book my cousin Michael had recommended to me a while back called Texan Iliad.  As soon as I'm done here, I'm going to pull it off the shelf and start on it.

Meanwhile, my roses are finally starting to bloom.

I'd gotten a little worried about them.  I cut them back pretty hard last year, and was afraid I'd killed them.  Good to see I didn't.  I'm going to leave them alone this summer, except for trimming back the ones that grow straight out into the yard.  They grab on to me when I'm mowing. 

Always with the mowing...

Well, it looks like my poor little vinca has given up the ghost.

I was so hoping it would perk up once I'd gotten it into the ground, but it didn't. I guess next time I go into town, I'll look to see if they have a single vinca available.  They usually do, but if not, I'll put something else in that spot.  Then I'll be done.  For real, this time.  Right, Ronnie? 

Meanwhile, the dandelion growing the crack in my concrete is going strong.

Ain't that just the way of it?

Back To Work

Boy, that vacation sure went by fast.  When I got up this morning, I was so glad I took those extra two days -- and wished I had two more.  But alas, someone has to feed all these dogs, and birds, and snakes, and whatever else it is I'm feeding.  So off to work I went.

There I was, at work, just a working away bright and early this morning, when my coworker calls, "STALKER ALERT!"  Sigh, I did not miss that part of my job.  And sure enough, here he comes around the corner, and plants himself right behind me for the better part of the morning.  I guess he was trying to make up for three lost days of trying to intimidate me --or else make me fall in love with him, neither one of which is going to happen.

I told my coworker, "If he's trying to win my heart, he's going about it the wrong way!"  But in a way, you have to feel sorry for Stalker.  He wants so badly to be relevant, but he's not.  Nobody likes him.  Nobody respects him.  I'm not the only one who wishes he'd just go away.  He's a wasted salary is what he is.  Speaking of, I heard the made Brazing Boss the supervisor over the hairpin production.  Not sure if it's true or not.  It's just what I heard.

OK, enough about my horrible job and nonexistent love life...Let's talk about knitting.

As I mentioned yesterday, I cast on a new hat, and have made a good bit of progress on it.

I don't have a pattern for this.  I'm just kind of making it up as I go along.  Um, I mean, uh, it's pattern of my own design.  Which is a fancy way of saying I'm making it up as I go along.  Whatever.  I like it.  It's mindless enough I can watch sea chanties while I knit, but interesting enough I don't get bored with it. 

And finally, just so this post isn't a total waste, here's a little something especially for Kristine.  I think you might enjoy this one.



Nothing implied here.  I just like the song, and the banter before hand makes me giggle. 

I hope you like it, too.

Sunday Hymn

As I was washing dishes early this morning, I looked out my kitchen window.  One of my deer came to the old feeding patch.  They still check from time to time, to see if there is any corn there. 

Anyway, seeing that deer put me in mind of this old psalm, so I present it to you as your Sunday Hymn. 



As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants for you, O God.  Psalm 42:1

Quiet Saturday

Well, I finally gave up on this hat and sent it off to the frog pond.

I just couldn't seem to get the decreases to work out right.  I don't know if you can see it here, but in the decrease rounds, it made these rib-like things every few inches.

Hang on, let me circle it for you.  See, here it is.

It may not have been that obvious, but it stood out light a lightning bolt to me.  I tried and tried different ways of decreasing, but it still ended up doing that.  I finally took the better part of valor and ripped the whole hat.   I've already cast on a new hat, but it's only got two rounds so far, so there's not much use in taking a picture of it for you.

What I can do, however, is show you the other hat I finished.

Sans pompom.  I still haven't gotten around to making one, or really even deciding if I want to make one.  They look cool, but are kind of a pain in the butt.  I have time, though.  My friend doesn't usually need the hats until around September-ish, so I can put one on later, if I want to.

The only other thing I accomplished today was to get the plants I bought yesterday into the ground. Or pot, as the case may be.

I put my two zinnias into the small bed in front of the porch.

Once I'd done that, I kind of wished I'd bought enough to do the whole bed, but I didn't.  Maybe next year.  This year, I planted the six moss rose I also bought.

That filled up the little bed quite nicely, and I'm done planting for the year.

Here you can see the two Creeping Jenny in their hanging baskets.

By the end of the summer, they'll be trailing all the way down to the ground.

Then I mowed.  Oh, the mowing.  Always with the mowing...And while I was mowing, I was having imaginary conversations with my son.  He said, "You could always get married again.  Then you'd have someone to mow for you."  I responded, "That's a mighty steep price to pay just to get your grass cut."

I'll just keep pushing that mower around, thank you very much.

Well, I haven't seen my rose breasted grosbeaks any more, but according to the book, they only pass through here during spring and fall migrations.  I'm lucky I saw them that one time.  I did, however, see a ruby throated hummingbird on my feeder, and a bluebird in the yard.  I miss seeing my deer, but the risk of attracting one with CWD is just too great.  Hopefully, the disease will be contained and the feeding ban will be lifted soon.

Finally, I know, I know.  I said I was going to stop bombarding you with this group, but every time I turn around, I find a new song that I just can't stop listening to.  This is one such song.



For what it's worth, there will always be room for a shanty man in my world.  I am my father's daughter after all.

And I've got lots more videos to share in the posts to come.  I know you just can't wait.

I Said I Wasn't

I said I wasn't going to, but I did it anyway.

And what I did after saying I wasn't going to is as follows.

Since I didn't go to work today, the debate was whether to go up to Southaven and go shopping or not. There is a book store up there, and a JoAnn's, but it's a 2 hour (ish) drive.  But a book store.  But 4 hours on the road (both ways).

I hemmed and hawed for quite some time, then decided not to go.  I'd just go into town and get my regular shopping done, then come home and watch Tombstone and sea chanties for the rest of the day.

However, as I was driving towards town, I thought I'd maybe just go up to Batesville -- just to get out of the house and do something.  I decided nah, I would just stay local, but as I reached the on ramp to the  highway, my car  -- completely of its own volition -- turned north instead of south.  "Hmmm", I said.  "I guess I'm going to Batesville after all."

The whole way there, I hemmed and hawed about going on up to Southaven, the same argument I'd been having earlier.  It's been forever since I've been up there, and kind of wanted to go, but kind of didn't want to be gone all that long.  In the end, I pulled off at Batesville and just went to Lowe's.

Where I finally got my coping saw. 

Yay, I can finally cope! 

The other thing I got there was these two Creeping Jenny plants. 

I'm going to put these into hanging baskets.  I had one last year, and really liked the way it looked, trailing all the way down to the ground.  I don't remember it flowering, but that's OK.  I still liked the trailing viney things.

 Upon leaving Lowe's, I said to myself, "Self, since you're here, might as well go to Walmart and get your weekly shopping done."  So, I did.  About halfway through the store, I discovered the flaw in my plan.  Milk and ice cream.  I didn't want my cold stuff to be in the trunk of my car all the way back from Batesville, so I said, "What the heck, I'll just go to the Walmart at home when I get back." 

I checked out my few little purchases, and drove back to the local Walmart -- where I was unable to resist the Siren Song of the garden center.  I said I wasn't going to plant the little bed in front of my porch this year, mainly because it's too hard to keep the Creeping Charlie out of it.  However, these moss rose were just too much to resist.

I only bought a single six pack.  I also found two pink Magellian Zinnias, and that will be it for my flower beds this year.

The last thing I bought, well, not the last thing, but the last thing you might find interesting, was my new 'Murica shirt.

When I left Walmart, I drove down by the lake to check on the water levels.  It would seem about half the town was parked out by the emergency spillway, just watching the water.   Like I said last week, in a small town with nothing to do, you have to take your entertainment where you can find it.

The water was still very high.  Then I drove on down past the regular spillway, and said, "DANG!"  The outlet channel was way high.  I guess they have the gates wide open, because we did have some heavy rains yesterday. 

I might drive out there again tomorrow and take pictures.  I didn't stop today, because milk and ice cream.  I might get my fishing license renewed, too, and go fishing.  I used to fish a lot, but I'd mentioned to Stalker once that I liked fishing, and he worried me so much about it, it kind of put me off fishing.  Now, that we're not speaking at all, I'm getting the hankering to go again. 

Finally, as promised, here is the new hat I'm knitting. 

I think I might have enough yarn left to do a pom pom for this one.  If not, I'll mix a little white with the pink and make a two tone pompom. 

Vacation Day

What good is it to take a day off if you wake up at 4:00 AM anyway?

OK, I guess the good part is, even though I didn't go back to sleep, I still stayed in bed until nearly 6:00, when the call of bladder and bowel became too great to be ignored.  And that's how my vacation day started. 

As I mentioned yesterday, company policy says if you take a vacation day on Thursday, you get Friday and Saturday off as well.  With that in mind, I spent the entire day hemming and hawing about whether I was going to go back to work tomorrow, or take off until Monday.  I mean, I did other things, too, but I was hemming and hawing about whether I was going to go back to work tomorrow or take off until Monday while I was doing them.  I kept going back and forth -- that's a lot of overtime to be passing up, yet I need a break from the stalker, but that's a lot of overtime to be passing up, but I could use the vacation.  And on and on it went.  Until...I glanced up at the clock and saw that it was nearly 7:00 PM -- bedtime for a workday. 

I said to myself, "I'm just not ready to go to bed yet", and so taking off until Monday won out.

Anyway, while I was doing all that hemming and hawing and going back and forth, I finished another hat for my friend's blessing bags.

I started a pink one, but neglected to take a picture of it.  I'll get one tomorrow.

It rained off and on all day, though the severe weather passed well to the south of me, so I stayed inside and watched two episodes of Vera, three of Doc Martin, and I finally got around to watching Tombstone.  While I was watching Escape To The Country on YouTube, the internet dropped.  I was almost happy, because I ran and got out the old record player and listened to my records.

In the midst of all that, I took advantage of a break in the rain to plant my front flower bed.  All I'm putting in this year are these six Vincas.

The one in the bottom right was a bit wilted.  I don't think it was getting enough water.  I went back and checked on it an hour or so later, and it seems to have perked up a bit.  Maybe it'll survive.  We shall see.

I also put in two zinnias.

I think that's all I'm going to do this time around.  I've got these Chinese Forget-Me-Nots that came up again, reseeded from the ones I planted last year.  Or was it the year before?  I don't remember.

This is something else coming up in what was meant to be my wildflower bed. 

I'm not sure what it is, but it's got some buds on it, so I'm going to leave it alone and see what comes of it.

Last but certainly not least, I was looking out the kitchen window, and saw a new type of bird at my feeder.  Well, not new, but one I hadn't seen before.  I grabbed my Field Guide and quickly identified it as a Rose Breasted Grosbeak. 

This is not my picture.  I don't have a camera that can take one this good at the moment.  I copped it off a bird identification site online. 

Other than writing a letter, and wondering what day it was for most of the day (Is it Saturday?  It feels like Saturday.  No, it's Friday.  Isn't it Friday?  Oh, wait, it's Thursday.  Yeah, it's Thursday, right?), that's about how my day went. 

How was yours?

I'm Not So Sure

I'd originally said I was going to take myself a long weekend, because I have vacation tomorrow.  Company policy says if you take Thursday, you get Friday and Saturday off as well.  But now that they've posted the plant is working both Friday and Saturday, I'm not so sure.  I mean, 12 hours Friday and 8 more Saturday.  That's a lot of overtime to be turning down.  Well, I still have all day tomorrow to decide.

Speaking of, it's supposed to rain.  Again.  The good news is the worst of the weather is supposed to pass well to the South of where I am.  The bad news is, my friend Amy will be right in the thick of it.  I'd planned on getting my flower beds planted, but it looks like I'll just sit inside, knit, and catch up on my DVR'd shows.  And debate whether to work Friday and Saturday.

OK, then...

Back in the day, I had a regular feature on my blog called Conversations With Cody.  This was, as the name suggests, conversations with my son.  You can click the link at the bottom of this post, or on the label link in the right sidebar to read some of these. 

The feature kind of fell by the wayside once he grew up and left home, but I think I might bring it back from time to time.  Starting with this one: 

He is my child after all!

What Day Is It?

That awkward moment when you forgot you painted your toenails, and go to step into the shower and freak out because you think your feet are bleeding.  Profusely.

Ummmm, happened to a friend.  And that's all I have to say about that.

All day long, I was so excited.  I've got a vacation day on April 25th.  I had today to work, and tomorrow I could sleep in!  Woo Hoo!  Then I  got to my brazing stand, opened my little book to write the date at the top.  I checked my phone ...April 23rd.  Son of a gun.

In the long run, it's better, though, because with Thursday off, I get Friday and Saturday off as well.  I've been debating about going back in if we work the weekend, but I don't know if I will.  I know I need the money, but I think I need the break from my stalker as well.  One of my coworkers told me, "It must be exhausting."  Yep, it is.

BTW, some of you have expressed concern about him maybe following me home or something.  First of all, I don't think he would go to that extreme.  But I do kind of wish he would.  See, at home, I'm able to defend myself.  At work, if you defend yourself in any way, you get fired, too.  I just have to put up with it, because they subscribe to the idiotic idea that making us defenseless will somehow make us safer.

Fairy dust and unicorn farts, and all that.

Back in January, when I was putting my vacation time in, I had originally taken the day off to plant my flower beds and maybe get a little more work done around the house.  Now with a potential four day weekend looming, I'm thinking I really need to go somewhere and do something.  I don't know what, though.  I've done enough things for a while, but I still don't want to spend the entire time just watching sea chanties on YouTube.  (By the way, both spellings are correct.  I've been using shanty lately, because it seems to be more popular, but really, I prefer chanty, so I'm going back to using it.)

Before I go any further, in the chaos of the last few days, I realized I've been remiss in posing the answer to the riddle I asked of my readers.  For those of you with memories like mine, a week or so ago, I posted a video of a sea chanty which was supposed to contain a surprise for Whovians.  I said I'd tell you the answer the next day, but I never did.  I'm here to rectify that now.  Here it is:

It's not the greatest shot, but do you recognize the guy in the gray hoodie?  Yes, I did verify it with IMDB.  It is Noel Clarke -- known to Whovians as....MICKEY THE IDIOT!  And yes, I did shout it when I recognized him.  Poor guy.  No matter where he goes or what he does, he'll always be Mickey The Idiot -- as evidenced by thousands of geeks in thousands of theaters shouting aloud when watching Into Darkness...

That's Star Trek, for you non geeky types out there.

I also realized I've been remiss in posting my latest finished object.  Which I completed on April 14th.

I guess in my excitement over the Clydesdales, I completely forgot.  I saw the photo sitting there in my folder when I was resizing the one of my new Navy hat, which arrived today.

I know, I know.  I keep buying hats, but the only time I wear them is when I'm either mowing or fishing.  Say, there's an idea.  I could get a new fishing license and go fishing over my long weekend.

Oh, wait.  It's supposed to storm Thursday.  Maybe I won't.  Maybe I will just sit at home and watch sea chanties.

Speaking of chanties, here's one for you.  Funny thing is, I don't really even like this song, but these guys sing it so well, I had to add it to my playlist anyway.




One thing I'm definitely looking forward to on my long weekend is staying up past 7:00 PM.  But when one gets up ridiculously early, one...well, you know the drill by now. 

Earth Day 2019

Genesis 1 

 ¹ In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

²  Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of  the deep, and the Spirit of
 God was hovering over the waters.

 ³ And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. ⁴ God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. ⁵ God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.
 
 ⁶ And God said, “Let there be a vault between the waters to separate water from water.” ⁷ So God made the vault and separated the water under the vault from the water above it. And it was so. ⁸ God called the vault “sky.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day.

 ⁹ And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.” And it was so. ¹⁰ God called the dry ground “land,” and the gathered waters he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good.

    ¹¹  Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants  and trees on the land
that bear fruit with seed in it, according to  their various kinds.” And  it was so. ¹²  The land
produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their  kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds.  And God saw that it was good. ¹³ And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day.

 ¹⁴  And God said, “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate  the day from the night,
and let them serve as signs to mark sacred  times, and days and years, ¹⁵ and let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so. ¹⁶  God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. ¹⁷ God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth, ¹⁸ to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. ¹⁹ And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day.

 ²⁰ And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.” ²¹   So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. ²² God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.” ²³ And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day.

 ²⁴  And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their  kinds: the livestock,
the creatures that move along the ground, and the  wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so. ²⁵   God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.     ²⁶  Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky,  over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

 ²⁷ So God created mankind in his own image,  in the image of God he created them;  male and hemale he created them.   ²⁸  God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number;  fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the  birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the  ground.”

 ²⁹ Then God  said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole  earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours  for food.  ³⁰ And to all the  beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures  that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in  it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so.

 ³¹ God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.

San Jacinto Day

After the fall of the Alamo, on March 6, 1836, the Texas Army, led by General Sam Houston, spent 6 weeks running from the relentless pursuit of General Antonio Lopez de Santa Ana.  On April 21, on the banks of the San Jacinto River, the decisive battle of the Texas Revolution was fought.

It lasted just 18 minutes, and culminated with the capture -- and surrender -- of Santa Ana.  Against all odds, the Texas Revolution was won, and Texas became an independent republic, until they joined the United States by treaty in 1845.

And this is the song those soldiers played as they marched into battle:



Some years later, the battle would be immortalized in a ballad by Mitch Torok.



Since Resurrection Sunday and San Jacinto Day fall on the same day this year, you get a second blog post.  Lucky you!

Sunday Hymn

Why do you seek the living among the dead?  

He is not here, for he has risen!  

-- Luke 24 5-6 

I Did Another Thing

Y'all would be proud of me.  Today, I did another thing.

OK, it wasn't as much of a thing as the last thing I did, but it was still a thing.  Just not a thing thing.  But I still did it.

And what was this thing that wasn't really a thing I did, you may ask?  Well, I'll tell you.

As most of you know, we've had a bit of rain this spring.  It all started with the flooding back in February, and hasn't really slowed down.  Much.  I've been watching in the paper and the local EMA page on FB about how high the water is down at the lake.  They've got the levee road closed, and people riding ATVs up and down the dam constantly monitoring things.  This week the paper reported that the water is much, much higher than normal for this time of year, so on my weekly trip to town, I drove down there to see.

This is the emergency spillway.

It has just about one more foot before it is overflowing.  The last time that happened was in 1991.  Now, I realize that if you aren't familiar with this lake, you don't have any perspective on this.  You don't know what normal looks like.

This might give you an idea of how high the water is.  See the posts in the middle of this photo?

They're normally on dry ground.  If I remember right, each post is 12 feet tall.  Or maybe 16', I don't really remember which.  Yeah... Across the way there is the public swimming beach.  It's completely flooded, as is the boat ramp.

That guy was launching from what is normally part of the parking lot.  The picnic table and the swing are usually well away from the edge of the lake.

Finally, this is the beach Cody and I used to go to when he was little.

Those steps normally end on the beach, not in the water.

The good news is, the water has gone down just a bit since yesterday.   Someone posted a photo showing the water starting to trickle over the emergency spillway.  Today, there was about a foot of concrete showing.

 It would seem everyone in town was driving down to see the lake and how high the water is.  The few moments I was there, it was one vehicle after another, all pulling into the little park above it.  People getting out and taking pictures, just like I was.

Hey, when you live in a dinky little down like this with nothing really to do, you have to find your entertainment where you can.

I mentioned to one lady that I'd never seen the water this high, and had never seen it overflow the emergency spillway, as I'd only moved here in 1994.  She said, "Oh, it's something when it does.  There is water everywhere."  I kinda want to see it, but I also kinda don't.  The river is also way high, and more water would be very not good indeed.

One more thing, during Thursday's storms, there were 14 tornadoes in Mississippi alone, and 33 in the last week.  Just in Mississippi.  There were 89 total across the U.S.  I know one thing, I'm ready for spring to be done.

Can we move on to Hurricane season now?

At The Cross

When they came to the place called the Skull, 

they crucified him there, 

along with the criminals -- 

one on his right, the other on his left. 

 Luke 23 : 33

Patriot's Day

Note:  I normally post this on Patriot's Day, which is tomorrow, April 19th.  However, tomorrow is also Good Friday, and that takes priority.  Therefore, I'm posting this a day early.  

Never Forget -- Concord and Lexington, and the Shot Heard 'Round The World. 

Concord Hymn

Ralph Waldo Emerson 

By the rude bridge that arched the flood,

   Their flag to April’s breeze unfurled,

Here once the embattled farmers stood

   And fired the shot heard round the world.

The foe long since in silence slept;

   Alike the conqueror silent sleeps;

And Time the ruined bridge has swept

   Down the dark stream which seaward creeps.

On this green bank, by this soft stream,

   We set today a votive stone;

That memory may their deed redeem,

   When, like our sires, our sons are gone.

Spirit, that made those heroes dare

   To die, and leave their children free,

Bid Time and Nature gently spare

   The shaft we raise to them and thee.

The Cross Still Stands

When I survey the wondrous cross

On which the Prince of glory died,

My richest gain I count but loss,

And pour contempt on all my pride.

Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,

Save in the death of Christ my God!

All the vain things that charm me most,

I sacrifice them to His blood.

See from His head, His hands, His feet,

Sorrow and love flow mingled down!

Did e’er such love and sorrow meet,

Or thorns compose so rich a crown?

Were the whole realm of nature mine,

That were a present far too small;

Love so amazing, so divine,

Demands my soul, my life, my all.

I Did A Thing

Y'all would be so proud of me.  I did a thing!

Now, to some of you, that sounds like no big deal, but if you know me at all, you would know I am so not a thing doer, but yesterday, I did a thing!  Not only did I do a thing, I did a thing that required me to leave the house.

Yeah, I'm feeling pretty accomplished here.

So, what exactly was this thing I did?  Well, I'll tell you.  I went to see the Budweiser Clydesdales.  Yes, they were here in Podunkville, Nowhere.  I wasn't going to go.  I told my friend at work I was going to look at my clock, and tell myself, "Self, you need to get dressed and go see them there Clydesdales."  And I would look at my clock again and say to myself, "Self, you really ought to go see them there Clydesdales."  Then I would look at my clock one more time and say, "Dang, I should have gone and seen those there Clydesdales."

They were going to start hitching them up at 2:00 at the library.  Along about 1:00, I jumped up out of my chair and said, "By golly, I'm going to go see them there Clydesdales!"  So, I got dressed and drove on down there.

When the horses arrived, with a police escort, I might add, the first thing they did was to get the wagon out and polish it all up.

Notice the rather dark clouds in the background.  There was some question as to whether they'd even get the horses out, because nobody was sure if it was going to rain or not.  They weren't going to risk them getting cold and wet, and maybe sick if it were going to rain.  While waiting, one of the handlers got the Dalmatian puppy out so we could all squeal over her.

Finally, after about an hour delay, the clouds started breaking up and the sun came out, so the guy in the tan hat said, "Let's do this!"  And we did.

They got each horse out one by one, and told us a bit about him -- name, height, and such.  They tacked them up,

then led them over,



and hitched them to the wagon.

It took about half an hour to get them all out, brushed down, and tacked up, but finally they were ready to go.



They went from the library down to the square, and of course, we all followed them.   Well, not all of us, but a sizable number.  At the square, they stopped and posed for pictures, but I didn't take any.  Not of me, that is.  I took plenty of the horses.

And one of the adult Dalmatian.  Oh, and the drivers, too.

I took lots more pictures, which I will get uploaded to Facebook over the next few days.

Y'all would be so proud of me.  I did a thing!  The good news is, I'm done with thing doing for a while.  Until at least September.  When I hope to do another thing. 

 But for now, I'm all thing done out. 

Wild Weather And Sunday Sunrise

When I said Tornado Season Part 2 was going to start off with a bang, boy I sure wasn't kidding.  It got bad last night.  Before I went to bed, I heard of 7 tornadoes in Texas and Mississippi-- though I've seen one source say it was as many as 14.  Extensive damage, and lots of injuries.  Five deaths so far, and people are still missing.   

All my friends have checked in safely, though, and for that I am extremely grateful.  That gratitude is why I chose this one as today's Sunday Hymn.



And we mustn't forget that this is Palm Sunday.

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!  Luke 19 : 38

Starting With A Bang

It appears our Tornado Season Part 2 is going to start off with a bang tonight and tomorrow.

Yippee, I can hardly wait.  Good thing someone uploaded this handy dandy "Where The Heck Is This Tornado?" guide.

Learn it, live it.

I've decided if I ever write my autobiography, which would first require me to get a -- you know -- life, I'm going to entitle it Imaginary Husbands Don't Cut Real Grass.  Catchy, huh?  I've even come up with the title chapters, as well.  What do you think?

1.  I Need To Mow
2.  I Really Need To Mow
3.  I Really, Really Need To Mow
4.  I Lawnmowed!
5.  I Mowed Again
6.  I Mowed Even More
7.  Lord, I'm So Tired Of Mowing
8.  I Ripped Up My Grass And Bought Astroturf
9.  Astroturf Melts In The Hot Southern Sun
10. Forget This! I'm Buying A Boat
11.  Yikes! These Waves Are So Big!
12.  Finding My Sea Legs
13.  There Is No Grass In The Middle Of The Ocean
14.  There Is No Pollen In The Middle Of The Ocean, Either
15.  There Are, However, Hurricanes
16.  What The Heck Are Alligators Doing In The Ocean?
17.  Shark!
18.  I Need A Bigger Boat
19.  I Kind Of Miss Mowing.
20.  Just Kidding, No I don't.
21.  WILSON!!!!!

Where in the heck do I come up with this stuff?  I've long since given up trying to find an explanation for such things...

I'm pleading the 5th.  And going to bed.

Good night.

Rerun

So, there I was, laying in the bed last night, about to drift off to sleep when I heard the tell-tale sound of a mouse chewing.  In my bathroom.  Now, why -- and what -- it would be chewing on in the bathroom is beyond me, but there it was.

I got up and turned the lights on, making a lot of noise, hoping to scare it off.  It worked, but only for a moment.  After it came back the second time, I went into the utility room and got my mouse poison.



I'd bought some last week after hearing the tell tale sound of chewing in my kitchen.  Since I don't have a cat to worry about eating a poisoned mouse carcass any more, I got the Tomcat brand with the plastic thing you can put the bait inside so the dogs don't get it.

Did that make sense?

I put the stuff inside my vanity, from where it seemed the noise was coming, and went back to bed.  A few minutes later, I thought I heard plastic rattling -- just before I drifted off to sleep.  I haven't checked to see if the bait block has been nibbled on, but I hope that  mouse found it.  And ate it.  And died from it, even though I may have to put up with stinky dead mouse smell for a while.

And here's the thing...I don't even know why I'm telling you that, but I didn't have anything else to blog about.

Want to hear something ironic?

I was scrolling through my Timehop app on my phone, and this old blog post popped up.

What Do People Talk About?

I'm not really a very good conversationalist.  I never know what to talk about.  I've asked some of my chatty friends what they talk to people about, and they tell me, "Oh, talk about anything.  Talk about the weather.  Talk about your kids.  Just talk about anything."

But I've found that you can only say, "Hot enough for you?" so many times before people start wanting to strangle you.  And the whole talking about your kids thing doesn't really work for me.  I find that most people would rather talk about their own kids than hear about mine.

So I stand there and watch people chatting away, talking to each other, while I retreat inside my head and tell myself

Dernt Blernk

and

That's what people CHEW!! 

over and over and over...

Nobody gets it.  Nobody gets me.

I was pondering this yesterday when the following words popped into my head.

My World 

I live in a world inside my head
With many, many paths to tread
Twists and turns and winding roads.
At times I end up far from home.

If you love me; if you care
Help me find my way from here.
Better yet, come fly with me
For here, with you, I will be free.

Be my anchor, be my guide.
Believe in me and I will fly.
Be my courage, be my strength
And there's no limit to my reach.

Hold my hand, hold my heart
Promise me we'll never part.
Through twists, through turns, through winding roads
I'll finally find my way back home.



P.S. If it's dumb, don't tell me. I don't want to know.

It just seemed fitting to re-run it.

BTW, nobody has guessed what the Whovian surprise in yesterday's video was.  Really, nobody even tried,  (Amy?  Kristine?  Lisa?)   so I'll give you a hint.  Watch the left side of the screen. 

Closely. 

Almost Over

Do you see these things?  These things on the ground?

No, not the weeds coming up between the bricks.  Which I totally need to kill, but probably totally won't.  The other things.  The little wormy looking things.  Some of y'all know what those are, and some of you are just as excited as I am about seeing them on the ground.  For the rest of you, I'll put you out of your misery and tell you.  They're oak tassels. 

The good news is, they're on the ground.  There are still plenty on the trees, but they're starting to drop.  Hallelujah!  The Pollening is drawing to an end.  Now, we enter Tornado Season Part 2.  Which will wind down towards the end of May.

Just in time for Hurricane Season.  Yippee.

Isn't living in America so much fun?  I wouldn't know, because I'm always at work!

At least they've shortened the hours  10 on Friday, and 8 on Saturday.  It's been so long since I've worked an 8 hour shift, I won't know what to do with myself.  And yes, the dates are wrong.  After I took the picture, she came back and put up another notice with the correct dates.   Once again, I exhibited my apparent death wish and gleefully ran to tell Edna. 

She said, "I know you love your overtime, but urg!"  I replied, "No, I need the overtime.  I don't love it".  If it were all the same to me, I'd really rather be able to make ends meet without having to work 60-70 hours each week.   I mean, I could, but maybe I want more than a ramen noodle existence. 

One last thing, I promise I'm going to stop bombarding you with this group eventually, but this one has something special for Whovians.  New Who Whovians, I mean.  Not Classic Who Whovians. 



I'm not going to tell you.  Just see if you can spot it.  If nobody guesses, I'll give you the answer tomorrow.