And Just Like That

Just like that, we're all back to hating Port Isaac.

This morning was the coldest yet, and tomorrow is supposed to be even colder.  I'm still resisting turning on my central heat, but I've got wood up in the wood box to start a fire in the morning.  I'd planned on going in to town and getting new glasses, but all I ended up doing was knitting on the blanket.

I went out and filled up my bird feeders and the squirrel feeder.  By the time I got back into the house, I couldn't feel my toes.

Your PSA for today:  rubber boots have no insulation.  You might as well be barefoot.

Oh, and my latest Yes.Fit medal arrived today.

This one is the Headless Horseman, from the Legend Of Sleepy Hollow.  Kind of appropriate that it arrived on Halloween.  If you ever decide to do any of these races, that is a good one.  Very pretty scenery, and interesting land marks.  I haven't signed up for any more races at the moment.  I'm considering doing the Loch Ness one next, but will probably wait until after the New Year before I start another one.

Kind of no point in dieting until after all these holidays are over.

Speaking of holidays, another Halloween has come and gone, and I didn't get one single trick or treater.  I guess I'll have to eat all this candy myself. 

Hey, it's a tough job but somebody's got to do it. 

And with that, I will leave you with my traditional Halloween prayer:

And bid you good night. 

Upheaval

Whelp, I'm off until Monday.  It feels weird not working inventory tomorrow -- almost as if I've forgotten something. 

It's going to feel even weirder Monday when I get back, because they're rearranging the whole plant.  Not all at once, you know, but a little at a time.  They were supposed to do this last year, but another Lennox plant got hit by a tornado.  They had to use our funding to rebuild that one. 

Anyway, they're in the process of changing everything around right now. They're going to completely change the way we produce coils.  They're moving all the assembly lines into what is now the warehouse, and the current production area is going to be for components.  Supposedly, it'll be like going to the grocery store.  The Boss Hoss explained it like this:

When you want to bake a cake, you don't go to the farmer and ask him to plant wheat, or to the dairy and ask them to milk a cow.  You go to the grocery store where the flour and milk is all ready for you to use.  That's what we're going to have.  We will be making all the different components, and when they need some, they'll be there in a storage area waiting for them.

We used to have something like that in tubing.  We had large bins of parts on shelves, and when you needed -- say a header-- you went to the bin and got out how many you needed.  We still do that to a much smaller extent with some adapter tubes.  When nearly every part we used was pre-made, we called it the Kanban system.  I thought it worked really well, but we had one boss who just hated that system.  He'd tried to get rid of it since the moment the company implemented it.  He finally got his chance, and the Kanban system was gone. 

We've been scrambling and scraping to keep up with the lines ever since. 

All that to say, this weekend is when they're going to move the sub-brazing department.  Oh, we've known it was going to happen for a while.  We've even known it was going to be this weekend for at least a week.  Back on Monday, our Group Leader cautioned us to take all our tools and stuff with us when we left today, so they wouldn't get lost in the move. 

Right before time to go, Stalker walks around telling everyone if there's anything we need, be sure to take it with us, because they're moving us this weekend. 

Like we hadn't already known that for a week. 

The more he tries to be important, the more irrelevant he proves himself to be.  A month or so ago, he went around and told all of us he was going to bring all of us a little notebook, and we were going to have to write down all the orders we braze and which line they are for.  Sounds like a good idea, right?  It was. 

It was such a good idea, we were all already doing it.  One of the brazers told him, "We've been doing that for 20 years!" 

I just wish he'd go away, me.

So, there I was walking out in the back yard, when I saw it.

Since my last trap never arrived, I hopped on Amazon and ordered another one. This one:

I wanted a live trap in case a bird or squirrel gets into it.  I don't want to accidentally kill a dove or something. 

 

I Was Wrong -- But In A Good Way

I thought the little Christmas cactus the chipmunk had dug up wasn't going to bloom this year.  It would seem I was mistaken.  It's got buds on it!

Yippee!  I mean, they all do,

but that one was a pleasant surprise.  If it's budding, it ought to survive, right?

Well, they put out the inventory schedule at work, and guess whose name was on it.  Yep, mine.  I went and told Group Leader, and she called Supervisor over.  I explained to him that I'd put that day in back in January, and he said, "I don't know why they don't look at the vacation schedule when they make this list out."  So, it's all good -- on my end, at least. 

This will be the first time in 20 years I haven't worked inventory.  I don't know what I'm going to do with myself.   Since it's supposed to turn off cold Thursday morning, I might just sit in front of the first fire of the season, and finish my book.  I'm still reading 13 Days To Glory, by Lon Tinkle.  It's not as readable as A Time To Stand, but more so than Texian Iliad. 

I follow a guy on Facebook named Scot Pilie.  He's a meteorologist out of New Orleans.  He gives good info on hurricanes and stuff, since he's right there on the brunt of things.  He's also got quite a sense of humor.  When it gets cold, he puts out Gumbo Warnings.  He said for this weekend to get your roux extra dark.  It's possible we could have the first frost Friday morning. 

I got all excited when I saw this in Walmart last week.

I thought, "Oh, boy!  Peppermint coffee pods!"  But when I got it home and made some, it's just regular coffee.  Not even a hint of peppermint flavor.  Good thing I still had some Coffeemate peppermint.  I won't be buying this again. 

By the way, here is proof I have been practicing my guitar. 

And also by the way, my laptop is 6 years old, and it getting so slow I can hardly stand to use it.  I'm wanting to get a new one, but I'm trying to hold out until the overtime starts back up after the first of the year.

Speaking of things getting old, I noticed something both terrible and perfectly natural at the same time.  Jesse is starting to get a little gray around his muzzle.  He's 10 years old, so it's not unexpected, but it makes me sad still.  Rylea's whole face is nearly white now. 

Why do they have to get old so fast? 

Countdown To Christmas

Yesterday at work, I mentioned to my coworker how badly my eyes have been burning lately.  I said, "I hope this rain coming through settles down whatever it is that's got my eyes burning."  She said she and another coworker had just been talking about the same thing.  They'd thought they were getting sick.  I still hope the rain settles down whatever it is that's got me going, but so far it hasn't.

It was raining when I got up this morning, and has been raining all day long.  Not hard enough that I couldn't go run my errands if I'd had any, but hard enough to make me not want to.  So, what have I done while sitting at home all day? 

Well, I'll tell you.  First thing I did was to re-pot one of my Christmas cacti. 

When the chipmunk had dug it all up, I wasn't sure how long the pieces had been laying out on the ground, so I just hurriedly shoved them into the dirt.  It wasn't very attractive of an arrangement, so this morning, I carefully pulled it all out and replanted them.  I even put the piece I'd had in the cup into the big pot.  It looks a lot better now.  I just hope at least some of the cuttings take.

Then I pulled a long piece off another cactus and planted it into the cup.  By the way, the one in the terra cotta pot on the left is the original Christmas cactus that Cody got me for my birthday 19 years ago. 

Today is when Hallmark channel starts their Countdown to Christmas.  I've been looking forward to it all year.  Yes, the movies are cheesy and formulaic, but I still watch them.  And by the way, you're not going to get snow like that in ...wait, it snowed in Amarillo Texas this morning, so maybe you can get snow like that in Memphis at Christmas.

Anyway, the first premier comes on tonight, so I opened my ATT TV app, and headed to Hallmark Movies & Mysteries channel to make sure my DVR was set...only to discover ATT TV had dropped that channel.  What?????

That's the only reason I even subscribe to that app in the first place, and now I'm going to miss half the movies?  No way!  Naturally, I did what any red blooded American would do.  I dropped them like a hot rock.  I did a little research and signed up for a streaming service called Philo.  It's only $20 per month and has all three Hallmark channels.  I didn't even know there were three.  Did you know there were three?

The third one is Hallmark Drama.  So far, so good, and Philo even has DVR.  What's more, when you click on the channel, OK, say you're looking through the guide and you see a show you want to watch, only it started an hour ago, so you've missed half of it.  With Philo, you can start from the beginning if you want to.  Or you can jump to the live broadcast.  You couldn't do that with ATT TV. 

Of course, it won't replace my Hulu, as it doesn't have local affiliates, and  it doesn't have any sports channels, but until Hulu gets Hallmark channels, I'll be turning it on at Christmas. 

Since the new movie is about to start here in a few minutes, I'll just show you the latest batch of Zoom Loom squares, and say good night for now.

Goodnight for now.

Good Things

First good thing was I had the foresight to bring my plants inside.  When I got up this morning, the thermometer in my car read 38'.   I still haven't turned the heater on, though, as it's stayed pretty warm in the house.  However, later on next week it's going to get down into the 30s for several days in a row.  I might just break down and start a fire.  Or the heater.  Or something. We'll just have to see.

Second good thing, Rylea's neck bump seems to be going down some.  I still don't know what caused it, but as long as it's going away, and her appetite is coming back, I'm not going to worry about it.  I'll just keep an eye on it to make sure it continues to shrink. 

Third good thing, I'd found a level 1 book of praise songs on Amazon a while back, but they only had it in Kindle format.  I kept waiting to see if they would get it in paperback, because I can barely see the books.  I sure wouldn't be able to see it on my Kindle.  I desperately need new glasses.  A couple of days ago, I was looking at it again when suddenly a thought occurred to me. 

EBay to the rescue. 

I found it and ordered it.  The really good thing is, they told me it wouldn't get here until the first part of November, but it arrived today! 

It's got some really good songs in it, like Here I Am To Worship, and How Great Is Our God, and As The Deer, among others.  They're simple arrangements, because it is a beginner level book after all.  Glancing through, I should be able to play all of them -- with practice of course.  I've already played some of them.  I reckon I'll play some more over the weekend.

Well, I'd thought I'd do what my friend Cyndye calls a stream of consciousness post, but all my consciousness is telling me right now is how much it wants to go to bed, so that's what I think I'll do.

Oh, and the Astros are down one game in the series.  They're playing game two right now, and it's all tied up. 

I can tell already I'm not going to make it to the end.

I See That Written Which Is Doom

There I was, laying in bed last night, tossing and turning and unable to fall asleep.  Suddenly, a thought struck me.  A bad thought.  "Today is the 21st!" I said to myself -- last night, when it really was the 21st.  I had a bill due, and I'd forgotten to pay it. 

No worries, though.  I reached over and got my phone from my nightstand.  I opened my banking app, and paid the bill.  I never even had to leave the comfort of my nice, warm bed.  This miraculous moment brought to you by capitalism. 

That must have been what was keeping me awake, because once I'd paid that bill, I fell asleep almost immediately.  The alarm still went off way too early. 

I'm not sure what happened.  I must have gotten dressed really quickly, because I actually had time to get my violin out and practice for about five minutes, before leaving for work.  When I got there, sure enough,  they'd turned the turnstiles back on.  Just as sure, there was a line behind one single turnstile.  Sigh...This is how you know society is doomed. As if that weren't bad enough, there are some employees out there that just can't grasp the concept of how to unlock the gate.  See, it's got a sensor thingy, and all you have to do is touch your badge to the sensor.  The light turns green, and you can enter the plant. 

Well, there is this one guy who just does not get it.  He'll walk up and start flapping his badge in front of that sensor like a hummingbird.  Someone nicer than I am will show him how to do it, and he'll go "Oh, OK."  But then the next day, he walks up and starts flapping that badge like a hummingbird again.  My friend has shown him several times how to do it.  She said she's not showing him again.  I said, "If only they'd get rid of that zero tolerance policy, someone could slap him upside the head a few times.  I'll bet he'd remember how to do it then." 

I finally made it into the plant and went to the back break room to get ice...only to find the back gate was once again propped open.  What good does it do to secure one entrance when you've got five others standing wide open?  Seriously, people.

Anyway, I get to my brazing stand, to discover that my B shift counterpart had left me set up with another round of my favorite early morning game:  Guess The Unlabeled Order.  That's right, no pick ticket, no parts tickets, not even a handwritten note on a paper napkin.  Nothing.  A little sleuthing and I figured out what the order was, but I shouldn't have to go through that before I've even had a chance to drink my coffee.

If ever I manage to get out of that place, I could be an investigator of some sort.  Between unlabeled orders and pick tickets without any sort of jig number on them, Lord knows, I've had plenty of practice.

The rest of the day passed without incident, and when I got off, I discovered it was a glorious Fall day.  I was able to leave the French doors open for a little while, until it got a bit too chilly.  Since it's supposed to get down into the low 40s tonight, I went ahead and brought my Christmas cacti inside.

I've got them on top of the deep freeze for now.  This weekend, I'll bring their shelf in and clean it up really well, then settle them in for the winter. 

By the way, I don't think I told you this.  See the one in the front row center?  That was a cutting I'd taken off one of James' cacti before they moved back to Texas.  It was the one that had light creamy colored blooms.  It was a big, beautiful cactus.  This is what it looked like last year.

A few weeks ago, that &@$%*@$#^%$*&$  chipmunk got onto my shelf and dug the whole thing up.  It was all torn into pieces.  I was furious.  I picked the least damaged pieces and replanted them into that same pot, plus a couple into the plastic cup on the left.  The one in the cup has taken, but I'm not sure about the ones in the pot.  The cuttings haven't dried up, but they're not showing any signs of growth, either.

Even if it survives, it won't bloom this year. 

Stupid little rodent. 

We Have Deer!

Remember a couple of weeks ago when I mentioned they'd turned off the turnstiles at work?  Today, I found out why.  Seems that they'd done a fire alarm test just before they turned them off.  Now, what is supposed to happen is that when the fire alarm goes off, everything is supposed to unlock.  All the turnstiles, emergency exits, everything.  In actuality, everything was locking. 

They called the security company, who said they weren't coming back out there again.  They told the plant it was supposed to be that way.   I'm not sure if I believe that or not, but it's what the rumor is saying.  It doesn't make any sense to lock all the employees inside a burning building. 

Anyway, they got it fixed now, and the turnstiles are back on.  I still don't feel safe there, though.  If someone is determined to get in there and shoot the place up, those pathetic things aren't going to stop him.

In other news, I was standing by my window yesterday afternoon, about to wash some dishes, when I looked out and saw this. 

This is the fawn of the doe that looks so poorly.  He was by himself, but I did see the doe later -- also by herself.  I didn't get a picture of the doe, because Jesse scared her off before I could get my camera out.  She's still looking drawn down, though. 

I hope now that she's weaned, she'll put on some weight.  Of course, she's probably pregnant again -- or will be soon.

The little baby came back a while later,  and I got an even better picture of him. 

The only other thing I did was to weave, yes, even more Zoom Loom squares. 

And watch football. Lots and lots of football.

Let's see, Navy won.  Texas won on a last second field goal by Dicker the Kicker.  LSU won -- and didn't cramp up one single time.  And the Cowboys won.  I watched a few other games just to pass the time, but those were the ones I was really interested in.

By the way, how in the heck to you get into a fight in Victory Formation?  Then, after the refs break you up, how in the heck to you do it again?????  Seriously, dudes...


Oh, and I watched baseball. I got there in plenty of time to see Jose Altuve slam a two run walk off homer to send the Astros back to the World Series.  I'm not normally much of a baseball fan, but that one had me hollering as loud as anybody.

Next season, I might have to check the schedule and see if I can get any Astros games in this market.  If I can,  I might just watch more baseball.

Don't Envy Me

Don't envy me my exciting life.

Seriously, don't.

You know you live a dull life when the highlight of your day is buying a new Dustbuster.

You'll become even more envious when I tell you that this is the first Dustbuster I've ever owned.  I mainly bought it because I got tired of trying to wipe the dead bugs out of the window sills with a damp paper towel.  It doesn't work too well.  And since it's been cool enough to open said windows lately, the presence of dead bugs has become even more noticeable.  Plus, it'll be handy for little spills and such as well.

Look at me, telling you the benefits of owning a Dustbuster when I'm probably the last person on the face of the earth to get one.  But at least my window sills are now dead bug free.

All right then...moving right along...

Let's see... what have I done this weekend?  This morning, I got up and put my Fall application of Weed & Feed on the grass.  The dogs weren't happy that I had to keep them inside afterwards, but they got over it.  I didn't do it last year, and I think that's why the weeds took over my back yard.

Hallmark's Countdown to Christmas starts next weekend, so I got online and turned on my DirecTV Now account.  Only now, it's AT&T TV.  The bad news is, they no longer have the $35 per month plan I used to get.  They've included HBO at "no extra charge" and raised the price to $50 per month.  And they still don't have my local network affiliates, so I will drop them again right after the New Year. If they keep raising the price, I might not get them again next year.  I get Lifetime with my HULU, and they have some pretty good Christmas movies. So, there.

I also wove some Zoom Loom squares.

Then I wove some more.

On a whim, I got out all the ones I've done so far and counted them.  I've currently got 60.  Pretty soon, I'll have to figure out how I want to sew them all together.  I'm thinking I might make a true crazy quilt type and just reach blindly into the bag and whichever square I pull out is what I add next.

Whatcha think, Christi?  Think that'll make your friend Amy C. scream?  I'm still giggling over that, by the way.

A while back, I mentioned that someone needed to make a Dan Crenshaw action figure.  I've searched and searched, and haven't found one.  So, a Captain America doll,

and a homemade eye patch, and I made my own!

The patch isn't sticking too well.  I made it out of a printer sticker.  I've got some electrical tape around here somewhere that I think will work better. If I can find it, I'll try it out.

Finally, I found a violin lesson series on YouTube.  She even has links to PDF printouts that go with the lessons.  She seems to have a really good lesson plan.  For starters, she talks about the parts of the violin, and how to hold the bow, how to rosin the bow, and all that.  I've finally started the first real playing lesson.  It's just how to play the notes on the open strings, but that's where you need to start.

I've been playing sitting at my keyboard, so I can use the music stand on it.  It's not working out too well.  I'm not sure what the problem is, but I can't see the music.   I think my next investment needs to be a regular music stand so I can adjust the height to where I can see out of my bifocal spot.

And a new pair of glasses.  I was looking through my Facebook memories, and it's been 5 years since I've had new glasses.  That may be why I can't see anything.

Probably ought to get that taken care of, huh?

Piano Recital #2

It's that time again, folks.

It's been four months today since my keyboard arrived, so I thought I'd give you another little recital to update you on my progress. 

Again, I'll have to ask you to excuse the poor sound quality.  One of these days, I'm going to get a new -- better -- camera, but for now, you have to put up with this.  And the background noise.  I think one of these has the dryer buzzer going off in the background.  I remember hearing it, but I don't know if the camera captured it or not.  No matter.  It's life. 

So, without further ado, my first song is the French folk classic Alouette.



For my second number, I'll be playing the old Irish folk song, Cockles And Mussels.



And finally, as always, I end my recital with this one, which needs no explanation.



Now that my Fall recital is behind me, I'm going to begin working up a little Christmas concert for you. 

Hey, you'll have something to look forward to! 

Short Post

This is going to be a short post, because, well, frankly, I just don't have anything to talk about.  About the only thing I can do is show you my new fingerboard thing I ordered for my violin.

I still have to learn how to play it, though.  The company that makes the decal -- well, it isn't a decal, it's more of a vinyl cling, but it clings to itself, not the violin -- has a website with instructional videos.  I'll look it up tomorrow evening when I get home from work.

Speaking of work, I'm a little aggravated with my place of employment right now.  We've got inventory coming up soon.  Back at the beginning of the year, when I was scheduling my vacation days,  I went by the calendar the company puts out every January, as I always do.  I made sure not to schedule a vacation day on inventory day, because I always work that day.  I found out yesterday that they rescheduled inventory.

To a day I have a vacation day scheduled.  Oh well.  I'm not changing my day.  They'll just have to find someone else to work in my place this year. 

That's about all I have for today, so I'll just leave you with the latest batch of Zoom Loom squares.

Maybe tomorrow will be more exciting.

I Forgot

I got up this morning, and forgot today was a holiday, and I put some letters in the mailbox. I was already at work when I remembered.  No mail.  Duh...that's not the worst of it, either.  On the way home, I stopped at the mailbox -- with the flag still up-- and checked the mail...

I slept pretty good last night, so I can't even blame sleep deprivation.

Still, I think I'll go to bed early tonight anyway.  Because I did stay up late watching Lone Star Law.  Morgan Inman was on last night's episode.  And that's all I have to say about that.

Well, it appears I'm shortly going to have one less snake.  Oh, no, they're all OK.  But Cody has agreed to take Slider the ball python up to Memphis and give him a home.  I hate to sound ugly, but I never liked that snake anyway, and never really wanted him.  I was only supposed to have him a short time...see, I had this coworker who'd recently been kicked out by his roommate, and had to move in with his sister for a time, until he found a new place.   His sister wouldn't allow the snake in her house, so I agreed to foster him -- temporarily.  Or so I thought.

That was in 2007.  I still have him. 

Yesterday, Cody and I were chatting, and I asked him if he wanted Slider.  I said I'd keep him if he didn't, but I felt he'd enjoy having the snake more than I was.  He agreed to take him in, which makes me feel a whole lot better about things. At least Slider will be where he is wanted.

And I'll have one less mouth to feed.  OK, he only eats 4 times a year, but still...And I'll still have my colubrids, which I like a lot better than pythons anyway.

Speaking of feeding, Mama Doe showed up this evening to see how sloppy the squirrels have been lately.   I managed to get a fairly decent photo of her, and you can see why I'm worried.

She is so drawn down.  She wasn't like this last year, and she had twins then.  She's only got a single this time around, so it shouldn't be that rough on her.  I hope it's just age doing this, or parasites, and not CWD.  She's been here longer than I have, so she's at least 4 or 5 years old.  That's on up there for a wild deer. 

On a more pleasant note, I got several more Zoom Loom squares done over the weekend.

And lastly, 26 years ago today, this little bug was making his entrance into the world at U.S. Naval Hospital, Naples Italy.

Sigh...where does the time go? 

Brrr!

I guess Fall is finally here for reals.  It was 47' when I got up this morning.  Not quite cold enough for a fire, but chilly enough the coffee was extra good.  Funny how it just seems to taste better when it's cold.  Along about 10:00, it had warmed up enough that I could leave my French doors open and let the dogs come and go as they pleased, so that was really nice.  Not having to constantly let them in and out, yes, but also getting some fresh air into the house.

You know those people that stuff always seems to be happening to?  I think I must be one of them.  Today, for example.  There was a dead rabbit in my back yard.  I have no idea why it was there, or what it had died from. Oh, I know how it got in.  There is a gap between the gate and fence just big enough for a rabbit to squeeze through.  I just don't know why it died in my yard.  It had been there a while, as rigor mortis had already set in, but not long enough it had started smelling.  I tossed it out into the woods behind the back fence.  I supposed the raccoons and ants will have a feast. 

Other than that, it has been a really quiet day.  Aside from the usual laundry and house cleaning, all I've done is knit, weave, practice my instruments, and watch football.  Oh, and I got my latest Yes.Fit medal in the mail.

It's pretty cool.  It's the biggest one I've gotten so far, and the background has red and blue sparkles.  By the way, I've figured out that mowing the yard requires me walking around 2.5 miles.  I've got a pedometer app on my phone that told me so.  Hopefully, that's the last time I'll have to mow this year.

Speaking of practicing instruments, I've been looking online for some free violin lessons, as I haven't found a really good teach yourself type of book.  I've found several promising sites, but I still need to look into them further.  I also need to check YouTube. 

But right now, Navy is playing Tulsa, and I must go. 

Laters...

I've Run Out Of Clever Titles

Actually, I think I ran out of clever titles several titles ago, so you get this.  Such is life...

And now, on to your regularly scheduled post.

I've had this problem with chipmunks ever since I moved into this house.  Last week, I got fed up, and ordered a live trap from Amazon.  It was supposed to get here Monday, but it didn't.  I thought maybe it'd get here Tuesday, but it didn't.  By Thursday, I'd figured it was not going to arrive at all, so I requested a refund, which I've received.  I also left the seller a very poor review, to which they have not responded. 

Since I still have a chipmunk tearing up my yard, when I did my in town running yesterday, I ran into Tractor Supply to see if they had a live trap.   You know, I really need to stay out of that store.  It's like a wonderland.  So much fun stuff.

I didn't find a trap, but I did pick up this totally cute chicken mug.

They had four different breeds, and I debated for a long time, and finally settled on this one.  The first person I thought of when I saw them was my friend Marcy, who has chickens.  Do go check out her blog, and she's also got a vlog on YouTube.  Check that out, too.  She's really cool.

All that aside, I still have a chipmunk problem.  I thought about running up to Lowe's today, but ended up just staying home and being lazy.  Probably a good thing, because the long awaited cold front finally arrived.  It passed quickly, but got pretty hairy there for a while.  It's supposed to get down into the low 40s tonight.  I brought some firewood up, just in case.

I'm going to try to hold off burning it, because I've almost used up all the wood from that huge tree I had cut down.  I think I have enough to last through this winter, if I'm frugal with it.  I'll just have to get out there and finish splitting it.   By next year, I'll have to start buying some.  There's usually someone selling it on the local yard sale pages. 

In the meantime, I made a bunch more Zoom Loom squares.

They weave up so quickly, it won't be long until I have enough to make a blanket.

Yesterday, I found this meme and sent it to Cody.

Which is about how I'm playing.  He told me I wasn't messing up, I had become a jazz player.  They aren't wrong notes, they're atonal melodies -- or so he said.   Same as it is in knitting.  It's not a mistake.  It's a design element.  He asked how practice was going, and I said not well.  My hands are just too small to make the chords, and I told him how frustrated I was getting.  He said he's going to teach me something called triads.   He said they're much easier to reach than full chords.  

In the meantime, I got his fiddle out and tuned it.  I'm going to have to find a better book, though, or look for lessons online.  The book he has seems like it's meant to be used in a classroom type setting, with an actual instructor.  I tried looking at it, but it gets pretty advanced very quickly.  I mean, lesson two had sharps and all.  I don't even know how to make those notes yet, and there aren't any "this is how you play an F#" type of instructions.  The lessons just assume someone has taught you how to make the notes.  As a result, I'm only playing the open string notes.  There are only 4:  E, A, D, and G.  

I ordered a thing from Amazon that you can put right onto the neck of the violin.  It shows you where to put your fingers to make the other notes, since a violin doesn't have frets like a guitar does.  Oh, and there isn't anyone in town who teaches violin.  When would I go anyway?  It's the same problem I have with taking guitar or piano lessons.

Speaking of, there is a rumor going around that they're going to put us back to 8 hour shifts starting next year.  EVERYONE in the plant is praying that rumor is true.  They usually aren't, but we're all hoping this one is. 

In other news, Rylea hasn't been feeling well.  

I found some sort of strange lump on her neck.  I thought she'd been stung or something, but it doesn't seem to be getting any smaller.  If it's not better in a few days, another trip to the vet may be in order.  I'm hoping it's just a seroma or a cyst, and not something more serious.  That my time with her is getting short is never far from my mind. 

And finally, you have no idea how much this made my day.

Yeah, yeah, I know it's jut one of FB's algorithms, but hey, a girl can dream, can't she? 

Makes My Day

You know what really makes my day?  When I'm up there in Walmart and someone comes up to me and says, "I just love your blog!"  That's what really makes my day.  Thank you, Mrs. Norma!  It means so much to me!

You know what else makes my day?  Making other people happy.  Now that the recipients of the following have received the following, I can finally blog about it.  Boy was it hard to keep these secrets for two weeks!

I'd always planned on picking up a few things for my nonbiological sister Suzie at Fiber Fun In The Sip.  Her health prevents her from attending fiber festivals and things like that, so putting together a little care package for her was a given from the get go.

I only got her one skein of yarn, because she'd recently mentioned that she was de-stashing.  The colorway is called Jazz Rhapsody, and it was dyed by our friend Leann.

That fuzzy lump in the middle is an alpaca, made from...well, alpaca.  It is sooo soft.  Just below it is handmade goat milk soap made with oil distilled from Kudzu blooms.  It smelled pretty good, too.  I was almost tempted to keep it, but no, it's for Suzie.  The next thing is a little alpaca keyring, and also, a keyring that says "I knit and I know things."  On the far right is a stitch marker shaped like Mississippi.  Finally, I tossed in the keyring and pen they'd given us, plus the show's program booklet, and put it all into the FFITS gift bag and sent it to her.

It made a nice surprise for her when she got home from her latest hospital stay.

Now, Amy's care package, well, that was a different story.  All weekend Christi and I had been trying to get her to come hang out with us, but personal reasons prevented her from doing so.  We sent her selfies saying, "Come join us!"  We took pictures of yarn and sent it to her, all kinds of torture.  We even said we'd body check her to keep her from spending money, but all to no avail.  She just couldn't swing it this time.

So, there we were, just a shopping away, at the booth that had all the stitch markers, when Christi found some LSU ones.  "We can send them to Amy," she said.

"Yeah!"  I agreed, "and I'll go get her some of those purple and gold mini skeins we saw."

OK, I didn't really say that, but if I told you I'd said, "I'll get that yarn," it wouldn't make much sense to those of you who weren't in on the original conversation.

I ran back to the booth we'd just left, grabbed the purple and gold yarn, and put them up onto the counter.  "I'm back!"  I said to the man -- who was visiting with another vendor.  "We're making up a care package for our friend who couldn't come."

I paid for the yarn, and carried on shopping.  I was all the way down at the end of the row, buying my drop spindle when the other vendor who'd been visiting with the man from whom I bought the yarn walked up behind me and slipped something into my bag -- the little tin of threading needles.

"It's for your friend who couldn't come," he said.

How sweet of him to do that!  If you happen to see Two Guys Yarn at a fiber festival or something, be sure to toss some business their way.  I plan on doing just that at the next FFITS.  And I hope Amy can join us then!

Last, but certainly not least, the recipient of these cute little stitch markers hasn't actually gotten them yet, as I only mailed them this morning.

I'm not going to tell you who they are for, though.  That would ruin the surprise, but if you get a package from me on Saturday, it's you!

Surprise!  I hope you enjoy them!

One Night

One night, I'm going to get to bed on time, fall right asleep, sleep all night, and wake up in the morning, refreshed and ready to face the day.  One night...

Last night was not that night. 

Oh, it started off well enough.  I went to bed at a reasonable time.  Fell asleep fairly quickly...but just before 2:00 AM, I woke up.  The room was strangely dark, and strangely quiet.  I turned over to look at the clock, and the face was dark.  I looked towards the night light I keep in the bathroom --so I can see when I go visit Graceland in the middle of the night -- and it was off.

Yes, it took me that long to wake up enough to realize the electricity was out. 

I spent a few minutes wondering why, as there wasn't any bad weather going on.  Usually, when that happens, it's either a limb down, or someone got into a car wreck and hit a pole.  I never did find out why it was off. 

I lay back down and tried to go back to sleep.  Every time I'd just about drift off, the neighbor's dog would start barking.  Without the noise of my fan to drown her out, I'd wake right back up.  Once I was awake, I'd worry about the stupidest things.  Like, what if the electricity doesn't come back on?  I can get dressed by lantern light, but what will I do with my hair?  If I can't flat iron it, I know my stalker will go around whispering, "Look at Becky's hair!  It's all frizzy!" 

We can't have that, now, can we.  Maybe I could wear a hat.  I've got plenty of them.  But hats get on my nerves, and if I wear it, then take it off, my hair will look even worse!  Should I just call in sick?  No, that would blow my perfect attendance...and so it went. 

The electricity finally came back on shortly after 3:00, and I was able to get a few more moments of sleep before time to get up.  Better than that, I was able to fix my hair, so Stalker had to find something else to whisper about. 

Which I'm sure he did.  Because he usually does.

Let's talk about something a bit more pleasant, shall we? 

Back a couple of weeks ago at Fiber Fun In The 'Sip, Christi and I were talking about the classes we'd taken last year.  She mentioned all her Zoom Loom squares she still hasn't sewn together.  I mentioned that I hadn't woven a single thing on my Inkle loom since the class, either.  The reason being is, I couldn't find the right size cotton yarn for the weft in a smaller ball.  I didn't really want to spent $30 on a huge cone, but that's all I'd found. 

On the other hand, I'd spent a lot more money than that on the class and loom....in the end, I broke down and ordered one. 

I chose a neutral color, because that's a lot of yarn.  It's enough to last a life time.  With the Inkle loom, you don't really see the weft that much, anyway, and this will go with all the colors I'd bought ... to, you know, weave stuff with.  Now, I just have to dig the instructions back out and figure out how to warp it.  And find my heddles, or make some more. 

If I can remember how...

And finally, I made a few more zoom loom squares.

Next thing is to figure out how I want to join them together. 

I've Lost My Mind

I've come to terms with the fact that I'm never going to be a guitar virtuoso.  And I'm OK with that, because I'm only playing for my own enjoyment anyway.  I can play the notes just fine -- well for an absolute beginner, I mean -- but the chords are throwing me for a loop.  It's these short, fat fingers I was born with. 

I am getting better.  Slowly, but I'm getting better. 

Something's been nagging at the back of my mind here lately, though.   It's Cody's violin.

Sitting there in his room.  Gathering dust. 

It's got a much smaller neck and a much smaller fret board.  Much more fitting to my much smaller hands.   I've been thinking more and more about how fun it would be to learn to play it.  I spent all day today daydreaming of playing the fiddle.  It's a very popular instrument in country and bluegrass music.  It'd be so much fun to be able to play it...

Have I lost my ever loving mind?????

I don't want to give up the guitar, and I'm certainly not giving up the piano.  Do I really want to add a third instrument into the mix?  I mean, with these stupid 10 hour shifts, I barely have time to breathe as it is.  And it's only going to get worse when peak season kicks in after the first of the year. 

When would I practice? 

Still, I downloaded a violin tuner to my phone...

Maybe I'll get it out this weekend and tune it.  Not play it.  Just tune it. 

And maybe play it.  Just for a minute. 

Eh, who needs sleep anyway? 

What Is That Strange Noise?

I woke this morning shortly before the alarm went off to a strange noise.  It seemed to be coming from outside.  It was a strange booming noise, as if someone was beating a drum.  At first, I thought it might be a car coming up the road with the driver playing his radio too loud.  You know, those people who seem to think everyone within a 20 mile radius also wants to hear his music.  If you can call it that...

But I digress.

I lay there for a few moments, and when the alarm went off, I turned on the light to begin my day.  There, I saw Rylea, laying beside me with her head under the bed.  That's when it hit me. I realized what the strange noise was.

THUNDER!!!

Eagerly, I leaped out of bed and dashed to the door.  I flung it open to ...rain!  Sweet, blessed rain!

Can you see it?   Rain!!!!  I'd almost forgotten what it looked like.

The only downside is, neither dog would go outside and tend to business.  I put some newspapers down in Rylea's favorite accident spot.

Eh, I gave her credit for trying.

It rained almost all day, and even better, the temps never got out of the 60s.  It won't last long, as it's supposed to get back into the upper 80s by the end of the week.  Still, upper 80s is better than upper 90s.  Could it be that our long awaited Autumn has finally arrived?

OK, moving right along. 

If you've been reading my blog for any length of time, you know that I'm a Navy veteran.  If you're new to the blog, I'm a Navy veteran.

I'm also learning to play the piano.  There I was yesterday afternoon, just a practicing away.  Since I can't really take lessons from a live person, I just play each piece until I feel like I've got it down pretty well.  When I complete one lesson, I start a new one.

So, yesterday, when I turned the page.  I saw this: 

Do you see it?  Do you see it????

Yeah, I played it, but I was looking like this the whole time.

And I will continue to do so until I've finished learning that horrid song.

If they put the Army song in there, I'm done. 

Slowly Returning

I am slowly returning to the land of the living.  I'm still a bit congested, but I don't feel so run down as I did before.  I'm also still coughing, but that's always the part that hangs on the longest anyway.  At least my cough is productive now, which means it's almost over.

I felt well enough Friday to go run my errands -- or I thought I did.  By the time I got home, I was like, "Nope.  Not well yet."  But I had bills to pay, and they don't take sickness as an excuse.

But, while I was in town, I picked up a new Mum for my front flower bed.

I'd gotten it planted, and I was taking the photo, this beauty came by for a visit.

I'm sure some of you butterfly aficionados can identify it, but I don't have a butterfly book, and websites are too complicated to find what you want. I thought it might be a dark phase Tiger Swallowtail, but it doesn't have the little pointy things on its bottom wings.

The bad news is, I got up Saturday morning, and that blasted chipmunk had been rooting around in my bed, and had dug up my Mum.  I replanted it, and promptly ordered a live trap from Amazon.  I've had it with those dadgum things.  They may look cute, but they're destructive little boogers. 

Speaking of fall flowers, my spider lilies are totally showing out.

They got off to a slow start, but have really taken off this last week. 

Also speaking of fall, we've got a front supposed to be moving through this weekend.  The high tomorrow is supposed to be in the upper 60s/low70s.  Best part is ----are you ready for this? 

We've got a 90% chance of rain tonight!!!!!

I can't remember the last time I got so excited about a forecast of rain, but then, I can't even remember the last time it rained here.  It was late July or early August.  Some time along then.  Either way, it's been a while.

Too bad I have to go back to work tomorrow.  That's perfect weather for hot chocolate and knitting.  Or weaving on my Zoom Loom.

I'm really liking the way this sock yarn is weaving up.  It's making a nice, loose weave, and will stitch together into a lightweight throw.  That'll be perfect, as I don't really have something for those days when it's airish enough to need a cover, but not so cold as to need a blanket. 

By the way, I've been knitting my new colors into my mitered square sock yarn blanket, too.  Once I get them all added, I'll lay it out and take a picture for you. 

And finally, Navy came from behind to beat Air Force in a real nail biter yesterday.  I yelled so loud, I scared Jesse.  Which doesn't really take much anyway.  In all the years I've had him, I can't get him over his fears.

It makes me wonder what happened to him before I got him.