Caught Out

Well, I got caught out today.  I was expecting the rain to start around 6:00 PM because that's what the forecast called for all day yesterday, and even this morning when I checked it.  That storm must have seriously sped up or something because it started around noonish.  No matter. I still went by the bank and paid my house note -- which in all the hubbub over my checking account last month, I'd almost forgotten to do -- then, after some mental debate went on to Walmart and got my weekly shopping done.  

While I was there, I went ahead and bought another one of those black shelves like I have in what will eventually become my craft room.  I'm going to put this one out into the shed also, and start getting that mess better organized.  A lot of what's out there is junk that needs to be tossed, and the rest needs to be stacked up neatly.  I'll let you know how that goes. 

In a bit of bad news, the shortening on the shepherd's hook trick didn't work.  I guess the next step will be trying a baffle.  I've already ordered one, and it's supposed to get here tomorrow, so if it stops raining long enough, I'll get it put onto the pole.   Then we'll see... 

In better news, the new hat is coming along right nicely.

The name of this colorway is  Horn Section, but I've been calling it Starry Night -- for obvious reasons.  I'm thinking if the body of the hat looks like the brim, I might just have to keep this one for myself.  

In fact, since there's not much else going on, I think I'll put in It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown and knit on it a bit more, but not before I leave you with my traditional Halloween prayer:

Good night and Happy Halloween, everybody. 

All Right, Then

Sometime yesterday afternoon, I made up my mind.  I was going to send my diabetic cookbook back for a refund. Shortly after I published yesterday's post, I opened my Amazon app and began the return process so I'd have the QR code already on my phone.  Then I could run by the UPS store after work and return the book. 

Imagine my surprise when I received a notice that it was not necessary for me to return the product.  They still gave me the refund, but said I could keep the cookbook.  I've had this happen before -- where they say I don't need to return the item -- but usually it's when something is defective. Never for a perfectly good book I'd simply decided I didn't want.  

I might cook a few things from it, but I'll probably end up putting it into the Little Free Library on the town square.  

In other news, this is me for these last few days.  

 I am so over this hot weather and ready for something fall-like.  It doesn't look like it's going to let up any time soon, either.  We're supposed to have temps down into the 70s by Friday, but then it'll be back up into the 80s for the foreseeable future. 

That's really all I have for today, so I'm going to get off here and knit a bit. 

Laters

An F.O.!

 I have an F. O.!  

For you non-knitters out there, that means a finished object, and this one isn't a charity hat, either.   It's a hat, just not for a charity.  This one will be a gift for a family member. 

Since it isn't a run of the mill charity beanie, I let Charlotte model it for you. 

Yes, it is a slouchy hat, so it's supposed to look like that.  

As soon as I was done, I caked up the yarn I'd chosen for the next one and cast it on. 

I had to lay it on the arm of the chair to take the photo because this Incarnation of Evil was napping and wouldn't move. 

Brat.

In other news, we got a little bit of rain this morning.  Not nearly enough to relieve the drought conditions, though.  Just enough to wet the dust. Still, when it's as dry as it's been here lately, every drop helps. 

Not much else went on today.  Pretty much the only thing I did besides watch TV was to finally peel and boil down the sweet potatoes my coworker gave me.  They are now safely packed into containers, labeled, and tucked into the deep freeze.  

I've been finding a lot of stuff in my deep freeze that I did not properly label so I have no idea what it is or how long it's been in there.  I'm still thawing and eating it -- provided it passes the sniff test, followed by the taste test.  If it doesn't taste off, it's still good.  

You know, I've been thinking....I'm considering doing something this year that I've never ever done before.  I'm considering putting my Christmas tree up before Thanksgiving.   The reason for this is twofold.  One, because Thanksgiving is so very late -- November 28th.  And secondly, because Cody and Brennan are wanting to come for the tree lighting on the town square on November 23.  If they can come, they can put the tree up for me that day.  They weren't able to stay long enough last year, because they both had to work Friday and had to hurry back home Thursday night.  

I'll still leave the rest of my Fall decor out until Thanksgiving weekend, though.  

Eh, It’s A Start

Every year when I take these long weekends off, one of the things I say I'm going to do is to finally get my spare room organized.  And every year I don't.  I walk in with good intentions, then get overwhelmed by the sheer amount of junk in there and walk right back out. 

This morning, I told myself, "One shelf.  Just get one shelf cleaned off and organized."  And that's exactly what I did.  

I've still got a long ways to go, but it's a start.  I'm going to have to get more storage boxes, and eventually I'm going to move that black shelf out to the shed and get something a little nicer looking to put into this room.  I really hope I can get that whole shed rebuilt, because it's in pretty bad shape.  Not only that, it floods every time it rains.  That'll be sometime in the future, though.  I've got too much work that needs to be done on the house first.  

Speaking of, I checked my shutters over after letting them dry overnight and they look good.  I don't think they'll need a second coat of paint, so I put them back into the shed for safekeeping until I can find someone to hang them for me. 

In knitting news, I've only got one inch left to knit before I start the crown decreases on this hat. 

I've already picked out the next yarn I'll use for this pattern.  This is the one Leann dyed for the second Fiber Fun In The 'Sip in 2019, called Horn Section. 

It was the second colorway she'd dyed for the FFITS, the first one being called Jazz Rhapsody.  I'd bought one of those, too, but sent it to my dear friend Suzy, who left us in 2020.  

And finally, the moon is waning crescent, so I went out last night and tried to take some long exposure shots of the night sky.  

 It turned out OK, but there is too much light pollution around here to get a really good photo.  One of these days, I'm going to find myself a dark sky preserve and go camping out there.  

But right now, I'm going to go work on that there hat some more.  

Laters...

The Bad Part

You know, the bad part about having to get up at 3:30 AM for work is that you tend to wake up at 3:30 AM even on your day off.  So it was this morning.  

I lay in bed until shortly after 4:00, then decided I wasn't going to get back to sleep so I got up and did three loads of laundry before the sun even came up.   Then I washed dishes and cut and hung up a bunch more peppermint to dry. 

On a similar note, I'm considering sending my diabetic cookbook back.  It wasn't really what I expected -- or wanted.  I'm looking for quick and easy stuff that I can whip up after a 10 hour shift in the factory, and none of those seem like that.  I don't know...  Well, I have until November 20 to make up my mind.  

Once the sun was finally up and it had warmed up a bit, I got out and painted my shutters. 

The paint is almost exactly the same color as the primer, so that tells me I did a good job of picking primer.  And since I did use primer, I don't think they'll need a second coat.  I'll check them over tomorrow after they've had time to dry really well, but I think they're OK.  Now comes the hard part:  finding someone who will hang them for a reasonable price.  But at least I got them painted and that's one more thing I can cross off my list. 

In knitting news, I'm making good progress on the hat.  

Only about four more inches until I start crown decreases.  It's a folded up brim, by the way, which is why it's so long.  You know, I got to thinking...this is a unisex hat pattern, so maybe I'll make one for everyone for next Christmas.  I'll just pick masculine colors for the men, and feminine colors for the women, and voilà, we're good to go. 

In piano news, I'm still plugging away at both of my books, but lessons have really slowed down because....I've been playing Christmas music!   It's nice to be playing something just for fun.  I might even get a few little songs recorded for you this year.  

Or I might not...you never know.   It'll be a Christmas Eve surprise. 

Thank You

I don't know why I did it, but I bought a new birdfeeder today. 

The old one was pretty raggedy, but it was still usable, which is why it was so odd that I'd buy a new one and toss the old one, but I did.   While I was hanging it, I noticed the little rubber cap was missing from my shepherd's hook.  

It's not essential, but does keep the rain out of the tube and prevents it from rusting from the inside out.  I have no idea how it could have come off.  I thought maybe I'd pulled it off when I was taking the old birdfeeder down, so it should be on the ground, shouldn't it?  I looked all over for it, but never found any sign of a black cap.  Naturally, I did what any red blooded American would do.  I grabbed my electrical tape and taped the sucker up. 

It may not win any beauty contests, but it'll keep the rain out.  

Speaking of beauty contests, look what I found on my Cactus!  Buds!

I've got a couple of them that are starting to bud.  It wasn't that long ago that I didn't even think they'd survive, so I'm pretty stoked about this. 

In other news, a few years ago I bought some shutters for my house.  Strictly decorative, but I felt they'd increase the curb appeal.  I'd tried a couple of times to hire someone to paint and hang them for me, but the one...one... person who showed up gave me a quote that I thought was outrageously high but I wanted the job done so I agreed to it.  But then, that guy never came back to do it.   

Ever since then, I've said I was going to get them out and at least paint them, then maybe I could find someone to hang them for me.  I'd do it myself, but I don't feel comfortable drilling into brick.  Alas, it's been one of those things that I just couldn't seem to motivate myself to do, so they sat in the shed...until yesterday.  

Somehow, someway, motivation found me and finally, at long last, dug the shutters out and primed them.  

Amazingly enough, the primer still sprayed, and I had just enough to do all six shutters.  It's on the list to get them actually painted tomorrow.  

I'll let you know how that goes. 

And finally, I'd like to thank the two of you who still read the blog without me shoving the link into your feed on the book of faces every time I post.  It really means a lot to me.

I'd also like to point out that there is a comment box below each post, if you'd like to ....you know...leave a comment or something. 

Because I do miss the conversations...

Be Proud

Be proud of me.  Be very proud. 

Why? 

Because I made a phone call.   Yes, me!  I made a phone call!  This calls for a celebration!

Ok, maybe we won't go that far, but I'm pretty stoked that I finally got it done.  

And what was this phone call I made, you may ask?  I finally called to get my transmission fluid in my car changed.  It's been on the list for a while, and after trying several times to schedule it online, I had no choice but to call.  I'd been psyching myself up for it all day long, knowing all the while I'd probably lose my social energy by the time I got home from work and would put it off yet again. 

Then, along about 12:30, Group Leader Shark came around and said, "Only two brazers can stay.  Everyone else has to go home at 1:00."  At first, I'd said I wanted to stay, but then I looked at how much work I had left on the order I was doing, then looked at the clock, and thought, "I can get that done by 1:00", so I told GLS I'd leave.  So two other brazers stayed, and I came home and made my phone call.

The good news is, when I explained that I'd like to have it done on Friday so I wouldn't have to take an extra day off work, the person at the car place replied, "Gotcha!" and fixed me right up. She didn't have any openings for this Friday, so I'm scheduled for next Friday, November 1, and I requested the valet service so I don't have to get up and get dressed.  I mean, I'll likely be awake anyway since I'm used to getting up at 3:30 anyway, but I won't have to get dressed and leave the house.  

That'll be one more thing I can cross off my list. 

Once that was done, I went outside on this beautiful but slightly warm day and hung the small bird feeder on my new shepherd's hook, because the big one I normally use was just a bit too large and laid up against the pole.  

Then I got my shortening and rubbed a thick layer up and down the post.  I'd seen that on YouTube, and thought I'd try it.  It's supposed to make the post too slick for squirrels to climb.  I guess we'll see if it works, eh?  

Finally, as promised, the progress photo on my latest knitting project. 

It's about 7" long, so only 6 inches more to go before I start the crown decreases.  I'd forgotten how slowly knitting with sock weight yarn could go, but it is going.  

In fact, I have lots of sock yarn.  I might make a few more of these for Christmas gifts.  

 

Books!

Back when I was a kid, my mother had some books. 

Well, she had a lot of books, but three in particular she'd kept from her own childhood.  I loved reading those books over and over again.  Alas, I'm pretty sure they got ruined in Hurricane Ike -- like so many of my childhood memories.  

From time to time over the years, I'd thought about trying to find them on a used book seller site, but the problem with that was I couldn't remember the titles of two of them.  I could remember the third, but when I searched, I kept getting something else than the book I'd remembered.  

One of the books was about a family who decided to move out of the city and build themselves a new house out in the woods.  I kept thinking the title was something about the little house in the forest or something along those lines, but when I'd search, I would get the Laura Ingalls Wilder book, Little House In The Big Woods.  

The second book was about a little boy named Corky who entered his chicken Beulah into a pet show and she won when she laid an egg.  Alas, this was another one I couldn't remember the title to.   So there I was on Ebay looking for the book about the new house, when suddenly it came to me. 

Corky's Pet Parade!

It seemed so obvious, I'm a bit embarrassed that I couldn't remember that.  But no matter.  As soon as I had the title, I did a quick search and the book was mine!

I kept on trying to find variations of the title of the book about the little house, when out of the blue, eBay's autofill feature found it for me.  A quick perusal of the offerings, and the second book was finally mine, too!

All right!  I now had two of my favorite childhood books on the way to me.  That brings us to the third one.  As it happens, this was the only one I could remember the title to.  It was Clover.

The book was about a boy who befriends a wild rabbit, but when I typed Clover into the search bars on both eBay and Amazon, I kept getting totally different books.  I did a general google search, and even went to the Library of Congress website to search.  No luck.  

I was beginning to think I'd imagined the whole thing in some sort of Mandela effect, so as a last ditch effort, I put out a call to the internet.  Well, to Facebook.  I posted, explaining my dilemma and wonder of wonders, within 10 minutes someone had found the book and within 10 more minutes, it was in my shopping cart -- soon to be on the way to me. 

Full disclosure, I've had them for several weeks now but haven't blogged about them until now because I'd intended to record myself reading at least one of the books, but never got around to it.  Maybe someday I'll do that. 

On a similar note, my diabetic cookbook arrived today. 

I've glanced through it, but haven't really gotten a chance to really look at the recipes.  I was hoping to find a few I could make ahead of time, then freeze for those days when I don't feel like cooking.  Which is most days.  One thing, though, it is in large print, which my over 50 eyes appreciate.  

And remember the shepherd's hooks I ordered?  They arrived yesterday, but I'd already taken my shower and didn't want to get out and get all sweaty again, so I didn't put them out until this afternoon.  I'd originally just pushed them into the ground, but felt that wasn't stable enough, so I tried a different tack.

I dug a small hole about 6" deep, then shoved the spikes down into the bottom of that.   That wasn't easy, either.  The lack of rain these last few weeks has turned the ground hard as a rock.  I had to pour some water into the hole just to get the dirt soft enough to shove the spikes into it, and even then, I had to get my hammer out and tap them down a bit. 

It was a daunting task, but in the end I persevered and got 'er done. 

I had to kind of put it out in the middle of nowhere, and hopefully it's far away from both trees and fences that the squirrels can't jump onto it. 

I'm going to grease the pole with shortening, too, so they can't climb it 

And finally, I took the hot pink hat with sparkles to my coworker, and she loved it.  Now, it's back to working on my sock weight hat.  I'll have pictures later.  Right now, this post is quite long enough, thank you very much. 

I Gave In

I gave in this morning and turned on the heater.  I'm getting too old to try to be tough all the time.  Truth is, I thought we were supposed to be in a warming trend but it was 42° when I got up.  I'm just glad there wasn't any frost, because I'd put all of my plants back outside.  I didn't build a fire, because it's been getting up into the mid 70s by  mid-day, though I was a bit tempted for a moment.   But now, it's beautiful and I have the back door and kitchen window open, getting fresh air into the house.  

As soon as it warmed up enough, I went out and cut the last of my French Tarragon from my herb garden.  It didn't do well here, and I don't know why.  I don't know if it's too hot or what, but I don't think I'll get any more next year.  I've been trying to harvest as much of my herbs as I can before the first frost kills them all off.  

But even before that, the first thing I did was to watch the first half of the Navy game, since I missed it yesterday due to being at the company picnic, then I caught up on my cheesy Christmas movies.  Oh, and I ran my dishwasher, too. 

But, but, but I thought you said it didn't work!

Sort of.  It still functions, but the hose that goes to the top rack has come loose.  Everything I've researched says it'd be easier and cheaper to just buy a new dishwasher than to get someone to pull it out, take the whole thing apart, then reattach the hose, and frankly, it was an old dishwasher that didn't work all that well anyway.  It had always been the plan to replace it eventually even if it did work because it's black.  I know it's the style, but I don't like black appliances, or black walls, or black ceilings or anything.  To me, it makes the whole room so dark and gloomy.

For what it's worth, I don't even like bright red walls, or dark blue, or anything like that.  But that's another subject for another post...  

Back to what I was saying....  I basically use the dishwasher as a glorified dish rack, and over time, the crud builds up in the bottom and it gets just downright nasty.  Every so often, I empty it and run a cycle to wash all that crud away.  This morning was that time.  Now the bottom of my dishwasher is all nice and sparkly clean.  

Don't envy me my exciting life. 

OK, moving right along.  

As I briefly mentioned before, yesterday was our company picnic, but I didn't take a whole lot of photos.  I took a few of the petting zoo, but that was about it.  They had miniature donkeys.  

They had teensy goats.

And this baby kangaroo.   

They had some alpacas and some sort of miniature cow which seemed very intent on washing my hands with its tongue, but those pictures didn't turn out to well, so I won't post them here. 

There was good food and door prizes, and I won a vacuum sealer.  Alas, I already have one, so I asked Cody if they'd want it, and he said yes so I'm going to give it to them.  I was hoping to win one of the fire pits, but I didn't.  They way they do it is they call out your name, then you have to draw a number form another basket.  Whatever number you draw is which gift you get.  

And there was a pie eating contest, which nobody wanted to participate in except one person -- the one on the right in this video.  She kept trying to get someone to come up and do it with her, but couldn't convince anyone, then everyone began chanting The Big Man Up Front's name.  I mean, his real name.  They were out there chanting Big Man Up Front.  

So he came up and did it with her, and it was hilarious. 

In the end, the coordinators declared it to be a tie, and they both got to go into the money machine, only TBMUF didn't.  He let one of the floor employees go in his place. 

After the picnic, I came home and finished my coworker's granddaughter's hat. 

I don't know why I can't take good photos of pink and red hats, but they always turn out like this.  Anyway, she'd been wearing the same hat I knit for her when she was born two months premature, and it was time she got a new one.  I'd originally cast on 64 stitches, but after a couple of inches, I ripped it and cast on with 72.  It may be a bit big for her now, but at least I know she'll be able to wear it for a few years. 

Finally, I keep forgetting to tell you I finished re-reading Stormy: Misty's Foal, another old childhood favorite. I'm still reading Paradise War, by Stephen R. Lawhead.  

And if you have not watched the new Matlock with Kathy Bates on CBS, I strongly encourage you to do so.  There are only two episodes out, but it's been much better than I expected.  

Finally Made It

After six weeks of saying I was going to go, I finally made it up to Batesville this morning. 

I don't know why I went, or why my brain was so insistent that I go to Batesville, but for some reason, it wouldn't let me rest until I went to Batesville.  So I gave in and went to Batesville. 

I hope my brain is happy now. 

The first thing I did when I got there was to go to Walmart to see if they had any of the keto candy that my local Walmart was out of.  Alas, they were out of it, too so I guess I'll have to do without this week.  Then I wandered into the Christmas section, where I picked up this cute little light up Santa. 

Full disclosure, they may have these in the local WM, but I don't remember seeing them.  Anyway, it reminds me of the one my Mamaw gave my younger brother one year that he absolutely loved-- only his was bigger and held a black bag of toys, and wasn't LED, obviously.  I think he still has it somewhere. 

I also picked up a new flag, because my old one is getting pretty ratty.  

Old Glory is now back in its proper place, and the old one is ready to be respectfully retired, as soon as the wildfire danger has passed. 

But I'm getting ahead of myself...

Deciding I'd spent enough money at Wally World, I headed across the road to Lowe's where I didn't spend a single penny.  I didn't really intend to, but I wanted to look at the patio stone things I'd been looking at in the app.  I thought if I could see them in person, it would help me make up my mind.  

I really liked the ones that look kind of like gray cobblestones, so I think that's what I'm going to go with.  Now, I just need to figure out how many I'm going to need -- and hope they don't get discontinued before I get my patio as big as I ultimately want it.

While I was there, I took a moment to look at some dishwashers.  Mind has been out for a few years now.  Oh, it still works, but the hose that goes to the top spray thing has come disconnected, so nothing on the top rack will get cleaned. I've been reluctant to get a new one because with it being just me, I don't make all that many dirty dishes.  I always knew I'd get it replaced eventually, because having a functioning dishwasher will increase the re-sale value of the house, but what with all the overtime we've been working and assurances from The Big Man Up Front that said overtime will continue into the new year, I'm thinking eventually might just be sooner rather than later. 

First, I want to get someone to come unhook and haul off the old dishwasher so I can clean the space really well, and try to find where the mice are getting into the house.  I'm pretty sure it's under there somewhere.  If I can just find it and plug it up somehow, I might finally have a mouse-free house.  

But I digress...I found a couple of models I like that were under $500, so it looks like I will be getting a new dishwasher soon--ish.  

My final stop while I was up in Batesville was the Mounds, as per my usual. Well, my usual since I discovered that they were there. It's been a minute since I've been up there, and look what they're building.

  

A pavilion and museum!  Unfortunately, I couldn't find anything about when it's supposed to be completed and opened.  When they do open it, you can bet your sweet bippy I'll be up there. 

In other news, I almost built a little fire in the grate this morning, but decided against it because it was supposed to get up into the mid 70s.  And since we're due for a warming trend, I went ahead and put all the plants back outside.  They'll have a few more days of sunshine before I bring them in for the winter. 

While I was doing that, I noticed my mums are in full bloom.  

And I still have a few tenacious Cosmos hanging on for dear life. 

And finally, I brought the hummingbird feeder in, broke it down and disinfected it before putting it away until spring, which always makes me a bit sad.  Which segues nicely into me desperately needing to get a shepherd's hook to hang my regular bird feeder on.  Right now it's hanging from a hook in the eave of my shed, where the squirrels have easy access to it.   They'll clean out 25 lbs of feed in a day.  I want a shepherd's hook so I can grease the pole and discourage the squirrels.  

I looked at some in Lowe's, but they weren't what I wanted.  They all seemed too flimsy to hold the weight of a loaded bird feeder.  Looks like I'll have to order one from Amazon.  

Aaand this is both the blessing and curse of modern technology.  While I was typing this, I popped over to Amazon and ordered a two-pack of them-- one for my bird feeder and one for the suet holder.  They're supposed to get here Sunday, and I need to slow down spending money if I want that new dishwasher.  

But one of the things I ordered is Cody's Christmas gift.  

That's my story, and I'm sticking to it. 

Good Friends

I love my friends who bring me fresh produce from their gardens.  A few weeks ago, I had a coworker bring me some squash.  This morning, it was another coworker bringing me sweet potatoes.  

I'll probably boil them down and mash them this weekend, then put them in the freezer for Thanksgiving or Christmas.  They will most likely end up in a pie -- made with Stevia instead of sugar, of course.  

Speaking of, I broke down and ordered a Diabetic cookbook from Amazon.  The real question will be if I can actually find the energy to make myself actually cook any of the recipes.  By the time I get home, all I want to do is sit.  I want something I can zap in the microwave.  Heck, even the air fryer is too much for me these days.   I'm hoping if I can start eating better, maybe I'll feel better. 

I also ordered a Christmas gift for Cody, one of the mini greenhouse seed starter things like I have.  He'd tried to grow some peppers from seed this year, and they didn't do well.  Maybe if he started them in a tray, they'll do better.  When they were here a couple of weeks ago, Brennan mentioned wanting a raised bed, but kind of wilted told her how much mine had cost.  I'm thinking I might get her one as her main gift from me.  If I do, I'll have it shipped directly to their house so they don't have to worry about finding room for it in their car. 

In knitting news, I was talking to a coworker yesterday and the subject of her granddaughter came up.  I had knit the baby some booties and a hat when she was first born.  Three years ago. I decided it's time that baby had a new hat.  I'd intended to buy some sport weight yarn at the store this afternoon, but since I didn't put yarn on my shopping list I completely forgot about it, so when I got home, I dove into the stash and came up with this yarn. 

But before I cast anything on, I remembered I had some sparkly yarn left.

I'll bet that baby will love a hot pink hat with sparkles in it.  

And finally, I thought I might drive out to the lake to watch the moon rise, but forgot about it until it was already too late.  I watched it from the back porch instead.  While I was out there, I tried to see the comet, but I guess it had faded too much.  Even with a long exposure on my phone, I could barely see the head of it, and the tail was all but invisible.  

That's it for Comet Atlas...at least for 80,000 years. 

Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got a hat to cast on. 

A Mite Nippy

"I woke up this morning feeling lovely" said my coworker as she sailed into the department this morning. 

"And then you came here," was my reply.  That'll take the wind out of anybody's sails.  And it was an eh day.  Not terribly bad, but not great either.  The worst part of it is that they changed the schedule again, and the lines were right on us -- even though the conveyors were full of completed work.  Nothing that was over there was what they needed.  

I just wish they could somehow comprehend how stressful that is, especially when they're blaming us.  

In other news,  I stepped outside last night to look at the comet one last time, and that north wind like to have blown me away.  And sure enough, the north wind brought the cold temperatures with it. 

Yeah, it was a mite nippy this morning.  My car said 39°, an my phone app said 41°.  Either way, it finally felt like Fall out there.  I didn't see any sign of frost, but I don't regret bringing the plants in.  Better safe than sorry.  It's supposed to be about the same temps tonight, so I'll wait until tomorrow to put them back outside. 

On a similar note, I finally cut down the last of the sunflowers I was growing in the front yard.  Or to put it more bluntly, it finally looked dead.  I'd been watching it, and every time I thought it was time to cut it, another bloom would open up.  But at last, it looked dead enough to chop down and into the compost bin it went.  Now the only one I have left is my Mexican Sunflower, and it's still going strong.  Funny, I looked up a website and it said they're supposed to get between 3 and 6' tall.  The fence is 6', so I'm guessing that plant is about 9' tall. 

And finally, since I finished watching Land Of The Lost, I started Lidsville last night.  Oh, the memories it brought back!  There is only one season, and I think next up with be H. R. Puffenstuff.   Or maybe Gilligan's Island.  Or, I don't know.  I'll find something to watch while I'm knitting....because my coworker told me her three year old granddaughter is still wearing the hat I knit for her when she was first born.  

I think she needs something new.  

For Real This Time

I saw the comet for reals this time.  Last night, I mean. 

I went out shortly before 7:00 PM, and waited until it showed up, even though I was getting et up by mosquitoes.  It was worth it.   Alas, I didn't get very good photos of it, though.  When I tried to zoom in, the camera wouldn't focus. 

And when I zoomed out, the comet got a bit lost in the light pollution. 

But at least I got to see it.  I might try to see it again tonight before it becomes too faint, but this'll probably be the last time I go out.  

In other news, the long awaited checks have finally arrived, and I can breathe a bit easier now. 

Look what else arrived in the mail today.  My friend Kristine has a shop on Etsy, Stormy Blue.  There is still some stuff in it, but mostly she does conventions and stuff.  Anyway, she was having a special where you could get a cute little pumpkin tray 

and three fall candles for the low, low price of only $50.  

She only had five available, and I was lucky enough to sneak in and grab one.  After my Luddite self figured out how to use Venmo, the payment was made and my parcel was on the way!  It arrived a lot quicker than I expected it to, and All Hallows Eve is now burning, filling my living room with lovely scent. 

And she found this adorable card to include in the package. 

On a similar note, they're predicting we'll get down into the low 40s tonight with the possibility of frost in some areas.  I don't think it'll frost this far South, but I went ahead and brought my more tender plants inside just in case -- my Whatever Cacti and such.  I left my garden mums and Venus Fly Trap outside.  They'll be OK even with a light frost.  Oh, and I had some flies get into my kitchen, so yesterday I brought Marty Mac in and left him on the kitchen windowsill.  My house is now fly free and my VFT is nice and fat.   

And finally, I finished watching Land of The Lost, and am kind of bummed.  It was only three seasons long, so it went way too quickly.  I also watched the first episode of NCIS: Origins, and the new Matlock with Kathy Bates.  I enjoyed both of them, and liked the Matlock a lot more than I thought I would.  Kathy Bates was her usual phenomenal self, and there was a surprising twist at the end, which I won't spoil for you.  

I reckon that's it for tonight.  

Laters.

I Saw it!!

I saw it!  But I didn't see it, but I did!  I saw the comet, sort of.  

I'd gone outside last night with my binoculars and looked and looked and looked, but I didn't see anything that looked even remotely comet - like.   On an impulse, I took one of those long exposure photos, and when I got back inside, look what I saw!  

 It's the comet!  I'd seen it, but hadn't realized it until I saw the tail in the photo.  I'd probably just thought it was another star.  But now that I know where it will be located, I'll go back out tonight and see if I can get a better photo. 

Either way, I'm stoked!  This is the first comet I've been able to see since Hale-Bopp came through back in 1996-1997.  

In less exciting news, my checks were supposed to get here today.  I was so looking forward to putting all of that mess behind me and moving on with my life, when along about 8:00 this morning I remembered -- it's a holiday.  No mail.  No checks...Sigh...

Maybe they'll get here tomorrow.  In the meantime, I went ahead and called the customer service number and paid that bill over the phone.  The customer service rep told me I could pay it online, and I replied that I never could get it to work.  It says I don't have any qualifying bills, or whatever.  She told me I have to click on this other thing, and not what I thought I was supposed to, so I'm going to try that next time it comes due. 

That was the last thing I had to get straightened out, and once it's taken care of, this whole six week long headache will be over and done with.  

Now I need to run grab a quick shower before the sun sets.  

Laters. 

Knitting Into The Void

I spent a good deal of time this morning knitting into the void.  If you're a knitter, you know exactly what I mean.  If you're not, let me see if I can explain it to you. 

The ribbing section of the hat I'm working on is supposed to be 4" wide, so when it looked like it was getting close to 3", I started checking it with my measuring tape.   The first time I checked, the ribbed section was 2.75" long, so I knit about three more rounds and checked again.  It measured 2.75" long.  

I knit four more rounds and checked...again, it measured 2.75".  I knit 47 rounds and finally, the ribbing made it to 3".  Two hundred and sixty eight rounds later, and the ribbing is finally the requisite 4" long.  

OK, I'm exaggerating, but that's what it seems like.  When you're knitting and knitting like that and your piece doesn't seem to be getting any longer, we call that knitting into the void because that's where it seems all your knitting is going.  Occasionally, the void will give all that knitting back at once, and you end up with something that is 2" too long.  Fortunately, that didn't happen to me.  This time...

Nevertheless, the ribbing is done, and now I have to knit 9" of stockinette stitch before I begin the decrease rounds.  This one will be a gift, but I doubt it'll be ready for this Christmas, so even if the recipient sees it, hopefully she'll have a memory like mine and will forget by next year. 

Speaking of Christmas, I watched the first of this year's cheesy movies while I was doing all of that knitting this morning, because I'd DVRed it to watch the game last night -- which I also had to finish this morning because I fell asleep with about 4 minutes left in regulation play.  The score was 20-16 Ole Miss, and I remember thinking that LSU wouldn't be able to come back and win...the next thing I knew, the commentator woke me up shouting, "TOUCHDOWN!  LSU WINS!"  In overtime, no less.  

I found out this morning that it was the second longest game in Tiger Stadium history at 4 hours and 16 minutes.  No wonder I fell asleep!

In other news, was anyone able to see the comet last night?  I walked out a couple of times to try to see it, but couldn't even with my binoculars.  I guess there were too many trees in the way.  It's supposed to be getting higher in the sky over the next few days, so I'll try again tonight.  I may take my phone out and do a long exposure and see if I can catch it that way.  That's how I got all those photos of the Northern Lights, which were barely visible to the naked eye. 

While I was out there, I had a little fun experimenting with long exposure shots of the stars.  

It turned out OK, but the moon was waxing gibbous, and it made the night sky just a little too bright.  If I remember, I'll try it during the next new moon.  Because I know what the phases of the moon are and don't think the government hid the moon...

In other news, look what we have coming up this week:  

 All this cooler weather inspired me to get my piano books out and start playing a bit of Christmas music.   And I splurged and had a sip of egg nog.  OK, more than a sip, and I'm sure I'll pay for it with high glucose tomorrow, but I figure as long as I don't over do it, it's OK to have a treat now and again. 

On a similar note, I've been taste testing all these keto/low carb desserts, and honestly, to me the best ones are the easiest:  a pack of sugar free pudding mix made with heavy whipping cream instead of milk.  Just beat it into a mousse like consistency and you're good to go.  Very simple, very easy. 

I still haven't tried any cake or cookie recipes, though.  I just can't seem to motivate myself to do so.  

Somebody needs to come whip my butt into shape.