I Should Have Known

I should have known not to get my hopes up.  After being let down so, so many times, I shouldn't have expected this time to be any different.  

Yep, you guessed it.  The firewood guy flaked on me.  He messaged me right after I got home from work and told me -- after leading me on for a solid week-- that, oh, he didn't have enough seasoned wood to make up a load after all, so he wouldn't be able to bring it.  

Seriously?  Then why the heck did you advertise if you don't even have what you're trying to sell?????

I suppose I should give him credit for being honest about it.  He could have just brought the green wood and not said anything about it.  Still, I don't even know what to do other than just not have any fires at all.  I'll keep looking, but really at this point, I'm tired of trying. 

On a more pleasant note, I finished another hat last night. 

One more to go, then I'm going to box them all up and send them off to their intended recipients.   Just for good measure, I wanted to show you why the red hat was so tough to knit.  See these two yarns?  

They're both the same brand (Red Heart) and both listed as worsted weight, but you can see the red one is nearly twice as thick as the purple yarn.  I'll still use the red.  I'll just need to remember to use bigger needles. 

That's all I have for today, so I'll just leave you with my traditional Halloween prayer. 

It’s Back!

 What's back?  Well, winter, for one!  

Here in the South, we don't do fall.  We go straight from summer to winter.  Think I'm kidding?  Yesterday it got up into the 80s and my air conditioner was running.  Tomorrow night, we're under a freeze watch.  It was 60 when I got up this morning, and the temp has been steadily dropping all day.  I've already brought all my plants inside, just in case.  

The bad news is, the firewood guy didn't come.  The good news is, he messaged me and told me he wasn't coming because of the rain -- yes, it has rained all day!-- and would deliver the wood tomorrow.  

I still haven't turned on the heater, though.  One of my friends from high school said it's actually cheaper to use a space heater in the room you're in than to run the central heat, so I'm going to try that this winter and see how it works out.  I already have a space heater that I'd bought to keep the snake room warm, before I remembered that each snake tank has its own heater and they don't really need the entire room warm. 

I really want to widen the doorway between the kitchen/dining area and the living room, so that the heat from the wood stove can get into the living room better, but that would require a contractor and likely an electrician, and you know what those are like around here. 

You know what else is back?  The internet!

It was out all afternoon yesterday.  And I do mean all afternoon.  I called the tech control number and the automated message said they were working on the problem.  Even so, it didn't come back on until 6:45 -- just in time for the new cheesy Hallmark movie Joyeaux Noel, which was actually not so cheesy and pretty good.   However, thanks to those 4 months when I'd cut my internet completely off, I knew how to still watch the football games without having said internet.  

Well, since I figured it'd only be a temporary outage, I just turned my phone hot spot on and watched the game on my computer -- connected to the TV by an HDMI cable.  The things we do...

OK, moving right along.  Remember the other day when I said I'd show you a photo of how scary dry it has gotten here?  I'd meant to do that Saturday, but completely forgot.  Fear not, I shall do it right now.

Here it is:  

For those of you unfamiliar with swamps, this is a stand of cypress trees.  I took these photos on the bottomland trail at the Lee Tartt Nature Preserve.  If you look closely at the bases of the trees you can see the water line.  

All those dark areas are usually under water. Not only is it completely dry, most of it isn't even muddy any more.  Today's rain helped some, but it'll take a lot more before the swamp fills up again.  

And finally, if you see a hairy vine like this crawling up a tree, don't touch it.  It's poison ivy.

Ask me how I know.

Too Hot For This

 I didn't really have a lot that I'd planned on doing today, but I did have one thing on the agenda.  Besides finishing this hat, I mean. 

This is Red Heart, but it's not one of the better Red Hearts.  It's not bad yarn, but it seems to be a bit thicker and stiffer than some of their others.  It's not at all pleasant to knit with.  I had to go up a needle size to knit the body just to be able to finish it.  I'm hoping it softens up significantly when I wash it.  I haven't cast on another hat yet, but I guarantee you I won't be with this yarn.  Not yet, at least. 

Throughout the year, when limbs and twigs fall out of the trees, I pick them up and toss them into this old chicken coop. 

When it gets cold, I use this stuff to start fires in my little wood box.  So, today, I had the bright idea that I would get out there and cut it up into relatively straight 12" to 14" lengths.  That way, I wouldn't have to be standing outside in the cold snapping the twigs into usable kindling.  It seemed like a good idea at the time, however, I didn't get very far at all when I said, "It's too hot for this.  I'm just not in the mood."  This little bitty pile there in the back is all I got done before I came back in the house and began working on inside chores.  In the air conditioning. 

I figure if I do a little each day, I'll soon get it all broken up and ready to burn. 

On the way back to the house, I brought up an armful of the wood I had left over from last year.

When the last firewood guy ended up being a no-show, I made sure to save enough wood for an emergency -- just in case the power went out or something.  I've got enough for maybe two or three good fires.  And that's it.  I'm still keeping my fingers crossed that the new firewood guy actually shows on Monday, but at this point, I've gotten so used to being blown off, I'm actually more surprised when someone follows through.  

Kindly ignore the mess underneath the wood holder thing.  I'll get it cleaned up eventually.  I've really gotten lax with my housecleaning here these last few months.  I don't know why.  I just don't feel like doing it. 

The whole time I was outside, I had a supervisor.  

I think I've spoiled them.  Every time they see me, they think they're going to get fed.  I've noticed they're always right there at the edge of the woods, and when I go out to do anything in the yard, they come out looking for corn. Food is scarce because of the drought, and they're so hungry.  Plus, they're staying close to the water trough.  I've seen the deer, all kinds of birds, squirrels, even little ground hornets drinking.  Yes, I let the hornets drink.  I can't shoo them away.  They're thirsty too. 

Good news, my little bluebonnets are developing true leaves. 

If I can keep the starving deer from eating them, I might have a bluebonnet patch after all. 

I Found It!

I had some errands to run in town today, so on the way in, I stopped by the Lee Tartt Nature Preserve and found the new walking trail. 

Now, I hadn’t intended to actually walk it today, but when I saw the trail winding away into the woods, I couldn’t help myself. 

I can either confirm nor deny that I may have snuck just a wee bit off the trail to get a picture of the river. 

I didn't walk the whole thing today, because I still had errands and I was already getting sticky and my hair was beginning to curl and HOLY COW YOU DIDN'T TELL ME SHELOB LIVED HERE!!

I took a lot more photos, which I will post some of them another day, but for today, I have to tell you I finally got around to cleaning out my closet.

First thing I did was to take everything out of my closet and pile it onto Cody's bed.

 Once I'd sorted through what I wanted to keep and what I could give up, I now have all these empty hangers.

And these bags were full. 

To be fair, I gave away some clothes that I still liked, but I figured if I hadn't worn them in so long I'd forgotten I even had them, I wouldn't miss them if I passed them along to someone else.  I couldn't quite give up the old wind suit, though.

Too much nostalgia there...heh.  

Once I got everything hung back up, this is what my closet looks like now-- minus the garment bag I have my dresses in. 

I had to wash some of those, because they were so covered in dust, I could barely see the original colors.  Once they're dry, I'll put the rest of it all back in there.   Oh, and that gray sweatshirt on the far left got tossed after I'd taken the photo.  

It had belonged to the ex, and one day, he got grease all over the sleeves.  He was going to throw it away, but I said I'd take it.  I cut the sleeves off -- because that was the fashion in those days -- and wore it for years.  Now, I hadn't worn it in years, so off to the bin it went. 

Now, I just have to deal with the headache of trying to find someone who will actually come get them.  

On a similar note, though the sky was dreary and overcast for most of the day, we didn't get not one drop of rain.  

Tomorrow, I'll show you a picture of how scary dry it is here. 

And finally, since I moved that little flag hanger thing to the front post of my car port, I bought a cute little flag to hang for Christmas. 

I had a hard time deciding which one to get, because this is the one I liked best, but it seldom snows here.  In the end, I got it anyway, and I'm going to hang it up -- snow or no snow. 

What Day Is It?

First up, a bit of good news. After I posted yesterday, I finally heard back from the firewood guy. He’s going to deliver my wood Monday, just in time for the cold front that's supposed to come through, so keep your fingers crossed that he actually shows up.

By the way, what day is today?  Having half of this week off has completely thrown off my internal schedule.  Some part of my brain knows today is Thursday, but keep thinking it's a Saturday.  I've spent the day freaking out that my extra long weekend is almost over -- but it really isn't.  I've still got three days left.  

I'd said yesterday that I was going to go walk the new trail at Lee Tartt Nature Preserve today, but that didn't quite happen.  The reason being is that I finished cutting down my roses from off of my fence.  

The next step will be to cut down all that lattice stuff and get rid of it.  

Then I'll be one step closer to getting them replaced -- them referring to my fences.  As you can see, the current fence is pretty raggedy.  

That corner post is leaning so badly, I wonder how it hasn't fallen over.   Even so, it'll be a lot easier to keep that fence line clean now that the roses aren't blocking everything.  I am kind of sad to see them go, but they weren't healthy any more anyway.  

While I was cutting, I found two bird nests.  One was almost completely disintegrated, but one was still in pretty good shape. 

It looks so much better now -- the fence, I mean -- but once I'd finished, I was so hot and sweaty, all I wanted to do was come inside and take a shower, and once I'd showered, I wasn't going to get back out and go walking and get sweaty again.  Thus, the trip to the new trail will have to wait until another day. 

So, what did I do with the rest of my day?  Well, I sat there thinking, "I really need to get up and start cleaning out my closet," because I'd planned on cleaning out my closet this week, but I didn't.  I watched TV and knit.  I finished one hat, 

then cast on another one. 

I know, I know.  I said I was going to work on the socks next, but the tags for the Seaman's Church come 9 to a page, and I only have three more hats to make up a full set of tags.   Once that's done, I'll box those up and ship them, then finish the socks.  

I'm kind of torn on that, though.  I think I've figured out why I keep wearing holes in the toes of my socks.  It's because I've got steel toed boots.  They don't have the give that soft leather does, so my toes have been rubbing against that steel cap all this time.  Unfortunately, starting in January, steel toed boots will be a mandatory safety requirement at work, so is there any point hand knitting socks if the toes just wear out after a few wearings?  

I think not.  Cheap, storeboughten socks are good enough for that.  

Progress

I had to go in to the doctor this morning.  Oh, nothing is wrong.  My appointment was for a follow up to check on my cholesterol and stuff.  I'd taken in the paper from my health screening last month, so he said we didn't even have to draw blood -- and after I'd skipped breakfast and more importantly, my coffee.   

Overall, he was pleased with my progress, but I mentioned that my triglycerides were still out of control, and I didn't know what else to do to get them any lower.  He reminded me that they're a whole lot better than they were back in January, when they were 283.  So 179 is a whole lot better, though it's still a bit high.  He said those levels could also have a genetic component and recommended I start taking Omega-3, which has been shown to help.  

He asked if I was exercising, and I replied that I had good intentions, but after an 8, 10, sometimes even 12 hour shift in the factory, I just don't feel like it.  I tell myself I'm going to go walk after work, but then I get into my car and my car just goes zoop and drives me home. 

All in all, it was a good appointment, and we went ahead and scheduled another follow up for April, and my next mamo for February.  As soon as I was done, I ran by Walmart and picked up those Omega-3 and splurged on some mixed nuts. 

They're good for your heart, you know. 

After going back home and eating a bite of lunch, I decided to go for a walk.  I'd originally wanted to go walk the Hasserway Wetlands Management Area trail out by the lake, but when I'd driven out there, I saw that it was closed, so I went to the Lee Tartt Nature Preserve.  I wanted to walk the new trail, but I didn't know where it was.  Instead, I walked one of the older trails, which was really nice, but not very long. 

It was a beautiful day for being outdoors -- warm, but with a nice breeze blowing to keep it from feeling too hot.  The trail wound its way through the woods and along the Yalobusha river. 

I think tomorrow I'm going to drive down there again and see if I can find the new trail.  I hear it's really nice. 

I spent the rest of the day knitting and watching a bit of TV, and working a bit in the yard.  I've been cutting my roses back bit by bit.  I think I'm going to cut them down completely because they're dying.  I don't know how to take care of roses, and they're going to have to come out for me to replace that fence anyway.  

The last thing I did was stack up all the bits of privet and stuff I'd cut out of my fences, and it made a nice little stack of wood. 

I know privet may not be the best quality firewood, but hey, it was free.  All it cost me was a little sweat. 

On a similar note, I finally contacted the guy who'd put the ad on Facebook.  I told him I'd like to buy a cord of wood, but I'm still waiting for him to get back to me.   It's been nearly 3 hours, so I'm not holding my breath that I'm going to have any wood this year. 

I'm beginning to wonder, is it something I said?  

A Little Visitor

I forgot to tell you yesterday, I was at work, just a working away, when the cleaning lady came up behind me with a plastic jar in her hand and said, "That lady over there told me I should show you this."

  

I looked into the jar and exclaimed, "Oh, he's so cute!"  It was a teensy little gecko, only about 1 1/2 - 2" long.  

When I looked back up, the brazer to my left had taken off that way, and the  brazer to my right had taken off the other way, and the one two stands down was backing up rapidly, yelling, "What is that?" 

"It's this big!" I said, holding up my thumb and forefinger.  "What's it going to do to you?" 

Once the dust had all settled, I asked the cleaning lady what she was going to do with it, and she said she'd probably let it go outside.  I don't know if she did, though.  I hope so, but every time I saw her for the rest of the day, she still had that jar on her cleaning cart.  She said it was the third one she had caught in the last few days.  It makes me wonder if a mom had babies in the walls or something. 

On a similar note, I'm really enjoying watching the wildlife at the water trough. 

 On a less pleasant note, inventory was an even bigger mess than it usually is, mainly because they'd laid off so many of the ones who'd done inventory before.   In the department I was working in, we had experienced card writers, but only one counter who'd ever done inventory before.   And of course, in typical ADP fashion, they didn't give them any training whatsoever.  They just threw them into the deep end -- so to speak -- and said to sink or swim. 

And also, of course, the card writers can't write the cards until the counters have counted, so we were all just kind of milling around with no direction or leadership. 

Now, before I continue with my story, let me explain one thing.   I am not a leader.  I have no leadership skills, nor organizational skills, and I certainly don't have people skills.  What I do have is a singular goal in life. And that goal is...

to go home. 

That's it.  To go home.  That's my only goal in life.   Heck, the only reason I even have a job is so I can pay for a home to go home to.   As I stood there watching my fellow inventory takers wandering around wondering what to do, I realized that to achieve my goal of going home, someone was going to have to get these people organized and working.  So, I began barking orders.  

But not really.  Barking, I mean. 

I showed the new counters how we count the parts.  I went and got tape measures, markers, and paper for them to use.  I even had to give some lessons in basic math to a couple of them.   I spread the counters and card writers out to cover the area faster, and even went and got a box of donuts for the group from the ones the Big Man Up Front had bought us all.  

I got everyone started working, answering questions as needed, all the while trying to get my own job done, and at the same time thinking I'm not built for this.  But I'll do whatever I need to do to be able to go home, and that's what I did.  

Now I am home, and don't have to go back to work until Monday, so I've achieved my goal. 

I Lied

 I lied to you the other day.  Ok, I didn't lie so much as I changed my mind.  I'd said I was going to work on some socks once I'd finished the hat I was working on, but I didn't. I finished the hat on Saturday.

And I did pull the sock out and knit one round, but then I put it away and cast on another hat. 

Maybe after this one, I'll knit the socks.  

In other news, I realized I haven't updated my reading list in a minute.  I finished reading Richard III, by Shakespeare, then read The Comedy Of Errors.  That's one I hadn't read before, and I really enjoyed it.  So much so, I found a performance of it on YouTube and watched it.  It was a production of Shakespeare In The Park, and the only complaints I had about it were the sound quality wasn't that great, and the camera kept showing the audience instead of the performance.  

I said after that one, I was going to take a break from Shakespeare and read something a little lighter, but again, I lied.  No, I changed my mind and started The Taming Of The Shrew.  Maybe after this one, I'll read something non-Shakespeare.  

And finally, today was the last day of work for the week, unless you're working inventory tomorrow -- which I am. Then we'll be off the rest of the week.  Fortunately for me, I had already scheduled vacation days for Wednesday and Friday, so I'll get paid for four days.  

I guess I'd better get on the horn and find some firewood.  It might be the only heat I can afford this winter. 

A Finished Object

 I finally finished the hat I cast on like...a week ago. 

Then I cast on another one. 

I think when I've finished this one, I'm going to go ahead and send them off, so the folks at the Seaman's Church will have plenty of time to get them ready for Christmas.  Then I'm going to take a break from hats, because I was laying in bed last night and suddenly remembered I'd cast on a sock last month with yarn I'd bought at FFITS.  I'd knit about an inch and a half, then set it aside until I decided on a pattern, only I completely forgot about it instead.  I still haven't picked out a pattern, so I may just do a K2P2 rib all the way down.  

Knitting was slow going this week anyway, because I had my first split fingertip of the season. 

It's on my left thumb, and no, it's not a cut.  It's from dry skin that splits open.  They often run very deep and are quite painful.  I've been taking extra vitamin E, and using O'Keefe's Working Hands, but this is just the way it is when the air is cold and dry. 

The only other thing I did was to grind up my dried lemon balm and bottle it.  I managed to get two full jars of herbs this year -- one of the lemon balm and one of pineapple sage. 

I'll probably give them as Christmas gifts, but I'm tempted to keep the lemon balm to make tea with.  I likely won't, though.  I've got tea running out my ears already that I need to drink up.  

Lazy Friday

After a few weeks of busy Fridays, I decided to take this one easy.  I mean, after I did my weekly shopping and laundry, of course.  I got out and piddled in the yard a bit, which mostly involved cutting the sticker bushes down and lining up some 4 x 4s to stack firewood on.

Now I just need to contact the guy who put the ad on Marketplace, but it got warm enough today for my air conditioner to come on, and that put me out of the mood for it.  I'll need to get in touch with him pretty soon, so I'll have the wood already here before I need it.  

While I was piddling, I discovered that under the bricks that make up what I call my back porch is...

another porch!  I wonder, though, why the previous owners didn't line the bricks up with the edge of the concrete slab.  I'm debating on whether to make that a project, and how to do it.  As in, do I want to move the bricks so they line up with the concrete, or pull the bricks off completely, or just leave it the way it is.  

I don't know.  I've got so much that needs to be done around here, but as many times as I've been blown off or ripped off, I've gotten to where I don't trust anyone any more.  And it's a bit too much for me to handle by myself.  

Well, Hallmark Countdown to Christmas starts tonight, and Great American Family Christmas has already started, so I'm going to escape my woes in a bit of cheesiness.  With lights...and knitting. 

Laters.  

A Sure Sign

 One sure sign the nights are getting colder is when the cat starts sleeping in her bed.  

She doesn't sleep in it during the warmer months, but when it starts getting chilly, she likes the snuggly feel of it. 

In other news, I has a sad.  I was driving to work and there on the side of the road was a dead deer.  "Aww," I said.  "One of my deer got hit!"  About 50 yards up the road was another one.  "Dang!  What's going on with the deer?" I asked.   I don't think I've ever seen two of them killed so close to one another.  I know they're on the move this time of year, but dad gum I hate to see them getting hit like that.

Speaking of deer, the wildlife department is urging hunters to make sure to fill all their deer tags this season.  The reason being is because of the drought, they're worried there won't be enough acorns to sustain the population, and food shortages will lead to starvation.  Yes, it has been that bad here this year. 

And finally, the much ballyhooed tailgate party out at work was typical ADP.  Oh, I suppose some people had fun, but most of us were just watching our clocks, waiting until we could go home.   In their usual unorganized fashion, the line for the food was long and moved slowly -- so slowly I read an entire act of the Shakespeare play I'm currently on.  They should have had more than one line, and they should have made up the plates ahead of time, but they didn't.  They should have had professional caterers do it instead of the front office people, who seemed to be moving in slow motion.  

It was 1:30 before I finally got my plate, and it wasn't that great.  Just a somewhat dry hamburger, and a hot dog that I've put into the refrigerator, but looks so bad I'm actually scared to eat it.  It's one of those cheap things that's dyed bright red, not a good brand that actually tastes good.  I wish they would have gotten Small Time Hot Dogs to cater.  Their food is food.  

That was actually a typo.  I meant to type their food is good, but it's appropriate the way it is, so I'm leaving it. 

I suppose I should give them credit for trying.   But really, I now understand why they had to make attendance mandatory.

One Way

 Well, that's one way to get employees to come to your party.  Make it mandatory.  

I guess I'm going to a tailgate tomorrow.   A mandatory tailgate.  But at least they're going to feed us, so there is that... an hour after our regular lunch break...

In other news, I got out this afternoon and started cleaning this section of the old chicken coops out.  I got this far and got overwhelmed.

Mainly because I just don't know what I'm going to do with all that wood.  It's mostly landscape timbers and 4 x 4s, but I have no use for them.  I've been trying to give them away for years, but nobody wants them -- which ought to tell you something.  I didn't even want them when they were given to me by the next door neighbor who somehow got the idea that I was going to make my back yard "so bea-yoo-tee-full".  No matter how many times I told her "No, I'm noooot," she still insisted that it was going to be "so bea-yoo-tee-full!"  

 But wait, there's more!

She gave me all of this, too, except that sheet of rubber stuff.  That was left by the previous owners, as were these things, and the little ride on toy in the top photo. 

I don't know why people seem to think I'm their own personal garbage dump, but they're always giving me junk they don't want.  I've got old computer monitors I never had a need for, and old ceiling fan that I can't use...heck one of my cousins even brought me an alternator -- for a car I don't even have!  

I'd love to give it all away, but people say they want something, then never show up to get it. 

I'm starting to understand why the previous owners threw so much garbage into the woods behind the house.  Not that I'm going to do that, but I'm starting to understand it...

Fun Fun

Today was the day  for our annual fire drill out at the factory, and let's just say, it did not go well.  What went wrong?

Well, first of all, any time the fire alarms go off, the turnstiles at the employee entrance are supposed to unlock and become free wheeling.  They did not.   I tried to go out one and it did not move.  Safety Man was out there and said, "It didn't work?"  I replied, "It didn't work!  It's supposed to be loose!"  He said, "That's why we have drills."  

All that aside, what it meant was that everyone had to go out the emergency exit on the side -- which would be a problem if the plant were operating fully staffed.  As it was, everyone made it out pretty quickly.  

We finally get out into the parking lot and head to our evacuation area, only to find our sign been moved and nobody knew where it was.  We went to where it was last year, and it wasn't there.  We went to where it had been two years ago, and it wasn't there, either.  We wandered around the parking lot a bit asking "Where are we supposed to go?" until we finally found our sign...only to discover there was huge pile of broken glass in front of it which we had to carefully pick our way through to get to it.  

Nevertheless, we persevered and made it to our evacuation area, and our supervisor was supposed to make sure everyone in the department had made it out of the building.  Only he didn't.  Someone asked him if he'd counted us, and he replied, "I see everyone!" Only he hadn't seen everyone, because Mrs. G hadn't made it out there yet.  She has a bad knee and can't walk very fast.  If it had been a real fire, we'd put her on a buggy and wheel her out, but for just a drill we were concerned we'd get in trouble if we did that. 

Then the fire department came and said we'd passed, and we wondered how in the world we did passed with so much going wrong, but they said with flying colors, and the fire drill ended, and back to work we all went.  

We hadn't even made it back to the department yet when one of the lines was calling for parts -- which we didn't have because one of the machines was down and we were way behind on work all day long.  Line 2 was on our backs all day long, and what was tubing sending us?  Parts for the RAH line.  Which was wayyyy ahead.  So far ahead, in fact, that we ran out of space to put our completed work.  

Throw way too big of a dose of my Stalker into the mix, and that makes for a fun filled day at the factory.  Kind of apropos that I'm currently reading Shakespeare's A Comedy Of Errors...

How was your day?

In a bit of better news, Cody and Brennan got a new kitten yesterday, or as Cody calls him, a little claw monster.  He's six months old and they've named him Finley. 

Finley likes to watch TV.  

Finley is going to be fun, I can tell already.