Settled In

After I blogged yesterday, I went ahead and cleaned (ish) my plant shelf off and got my Christmas Cactus all settled in for the winter.  

And yes, I know technically they're Thanksgiving Cacti, and there's a teeny tiny difference between the two, but they're all commonly called Christmas cactus, and so that's what I'm going to call mine.   They are both Schlumbergera.  

After I finished doing that, it was such a nice day outside, I went and sat by the fire pit for a little while. 

I only made a small fire with twigs and such that had been knocked down by the wind during Wednesday's storms.  Or Tuesday night's storms.  Whenever they came through.  Still, it was nice while it lasted.  I even had an audience for a little bit.  

It's not the greatest photo, but there are four of them out there, keeping an eye on me.  Also, I took the covers off of my Adirondack chairs.  It seemed a good idea at the time, but having them covered ...well, they just aren't as inviting this way.  I'll leave them off probably until it gets too hot to sit outside.  Or too buggy.  Or both.  

I'll run out and put them back on if we're expecting ice -- or in the rare event we have snow, but for now, I want to see the chair and spontaneously decide to sit in it.  Covers inhibit that.  

By the way, did any of you get to see that comet?  I tried several times, but I never saw this one.  Not complaining too much, though, because I saw the one last year really well. 

Anyway, since I'd moved the Christmas cacti off of the wood stove, I got up this morning and started a little fire in the box. 

It was nice and toasty.  I sure hope my coworker's son comes through with the firewood, because I do enjoy a nice fire.  Of course, it didn't take long for it to warm up enough that I let the fire go out, and was able to open some windows and let fresh air into the house.  That was nice, too, but I digress...

While I was in town this morning, I bought one of those sweeping logs, 

but when I got home and read the instructions, it said not to use it for the first fire of the year.  You're supposed to have two or three fires before lighting the CSL.  I brought up more wood for a fire tomorrow, because we've got another front coming through -- but this one isn't supposed to bring as much rain as the last one, at least not where I live.  Then probably Monday or Tuesday, I'll light it.  

Oh, and I should probably tell you I didn't go walking out at the lake this morning.  I was trying to figure out how I did it last year -- going walking, then shopping, and still getting home in time for the 11:00 football games.  About halfway to the store, I remembered.  

I went shopping on Thursdays last year.  I'm actually thinking about going back to that schedule so I can go walking on Saturday mornings.  For today, walking around Walmart had to be enough.

So, I didn't go walking but I did get up and put out my few Thanksgiving specific decorations.  

I usually put them out with the rest of my Fall decor, but this year for some reason, I held them back until after Halloween.  And this one, I usually put in the car port, but moved it to the front porch.

You can see it a lot better there.  I checked the clearance aisle at Walmart to see if there was anything good on sale, but didn't find anything I just had to have.  I found some inflatable turkeys on Amazon, but I'm still debating whether I actually want to buy one or not.  I really need to cut back my spending until overtime starts up again.  

On the other hand, I bought these.  

I'd seen this online a couple of years ago, and really want to try to make one. 

I'm going to pick up some smaller balls next week, but will have to order the silver sparkly yarn from Amazon.  I might run up to Batesville and see if they have some at Hobby Lobby, but I didn't find any on their website, so I don't know.   I'll also need to find some sort of ring to tie it all to, but I'm sure that won't be too hard. 

Look at this!  I found another little bluebonnet seedling this morning!  

That makes 12 so far, and there may be even more before spring.  I planted seven packets of seeds after all...

And finally, I'm not sure how much you've been paying attention to what's going on in Baton Rouge, but LSU has absolutely cleaned house.  They fired not only Brian Kelly, but also the offensive coordinator, and Athletic Director Scott Woodward.   Even Governor Jeff Landry got involved.  It was a mess, I'm telling you.  

Just in case you were wondering what the governor had to do with it, he said that the Louisiana taxpayer would be the ones having to pick up the tab for Brian Kelly's $53 buyout.  I guess the university is getting funding from the state.  Most of them do these days.  

Navy lost for the first time, and I fear it won't be the last.  Their next three opponents are Notre Dame, Memphis, and South Florida.  Then they play the one that matters most.  They are bowl eligible, and as long as they beat Army, the season is a success.  

At least as far as I'm concerned.