Shine On

Shine on, Harvest Moon.

It's been a family tradition since I was a child to go out and watch the Harvest Moon rise.  Well, my dad and I would, at least.  When Cody was little, we continued the tradition as best we could.  After watching the moon rise, we'd come back in and drink hot chocolate and eat Harvest Moon cookies -- which were just large, round sugar cookies.

Last night, I kept that tradition alive, except for the cookies.  I watched the moon rise until it cleared the trees, then came in and drank hot chocolate, even though it's still getting up into the 90s.

It doesn't look like it's going to get any better any time soon, either.

Not only that, they keep taking the rain out of our forecast.

Since it was too hot to do anything outside, I stayed in where it was cool and just piddled around the house.  The big thing was I bought a hat rack and hung my Yes.Fit medals up.

I put them into the snake/craft/computer room for now.  They just didn't seem to fit anywhere else.  At least they're up off my bedroom dresser.

Look at this:

The hat is almost back to where it was before I ripped it back.  I should be able to get it finished during the Texas vs Rice game this evening, and can send them all off to my friend Monday.

Well, that's about it.  It really was a lazy Saturday, so there isn't much to talk about.   Unless you want to hear about laundry and college football, because that's about all I've done.

Speaking of, it's almost time for Texas to kick off, so I'll catch you later.

Hook 'em.

Fall Is Here!

Today is the first day of September, therefore the first day of Fall. 

No, no, you may argue.  Fall doesn't start until the Autumnal Equinox on the 22nd.   True, if you follow the astronomical calendar.  Me, I like to follow the meteorological calendar, which means today is the first day of Fall.  Early this morning, it was cool enough that I was able to open my French doors and let the dogs come and go as they pleased.  It didn't last long, as the day got warm  mighty quickly.  Eventually, it got up into the 90s, but the air has that Fall feel to it.  So much so, I got out a wreath and hung it on my front door.

For those of you who haven't already figured it out, Fall is my favorite time of year.  The colors.  The smells.  Football.  The all too brief respite from the relentless summer heat.  I love everything about it.  I got so excited about its arrival, I couldn't help myself.  I ran into Cody's room and dug out all my fall scented wax melts.  And since I can never do anything halfway, bought some new ones. 

I bought this candle, too, but it was kind of a disappointment. 

It doesn't really smell like anything at all.  I mean, it smells good when you stick your nose right down into the jar, but not so much when it's burning.  I won't buy an other one. 

The other thing I did this morning was to open up my little sample of paint and paint a bit of my eaves. Technically, these aren't the eaves.  They are called something else, but I don't know what.   Yes, I know I could google it, but I'm not going to get pedantic about it.

I was going to paint a larger section right there, but alas, I'm too short.  That was as high as I could comfortably reach. But it's enough to see that the color I chose really does work.

Then I said to myself, "Self, since you've got the ladder out already, might as well get some more of that ivy off the bricks."

And one more thing before putting the ladder away.  I finally got my new flag pole up.  The one I bought a month ago. 

The old one had gotten bent in a storm.  It still worked, but didn't really look too good.  This new one is bigger around, and feels heavier.  It should stand up to our Southern spring storms.  That's why it took so long to hang it -- I had to replace the bracket, too. 

I spent the rest of the day watching football -- with a bit of a break to do the mowing.  Speaking of watching, the first game of the season was Thursday night.  I was watching, and it was getting late.  I wanted to go lay down in my bed and finish watching it there.  Alas, it would seem my Fire Stick has completely given up the ghost.  I tried and tried, and couldn't get it to do anything.    It wouldn't load any apps.  My phone app couldn't connect (the remote having blown up years ago).  Nothing worked. 

I did the next best thing.  I watched the game on my Fire Tablet, until I fell asleep. 

Yesterday, whilst doing my in town errands, I went and bought myself another Roku. 

I hooked it up last night, linked it to my account, and started adding my channels.  I got my five favorites downloaded, then turned the TV off and went to sleep, thinking I'd add the rest today. 

When I turned it on this morning to finish, lo and behold, sometime during the night, my new Roku had synced to my account and everything was already there. 

Ain't technology grand? 

A Bust

Well, that didn't go as planned. 

I'd taken a vacation day today to go to the dentist to get two fillings and my broken tooth extracted.  Well, really, I'd scheduled the days months ago, just to have them off, but when I found out I needed this dental work done, today just seemed a convenient time to make the appointment. 

However, when I got to the dentist office, he looked at my x-rays and decided one of my filings really needed a root canal and crown, so we postponed that one.  He did the other filling, then took a new x-ray of my broken tooth in preparation for the extraction.  After seeing it, he said my tooth was pretty badly inflamed around the root.  This meant he could shoot me up with all the deadening he had, but with the infection, it probably wouldn't take.  He said, "Trust me, you do not want me trying to extract that tooth with no deadening." 

Once again, I wondered how our ancestors made it.  They were definitely made of tougher stuff that we are.

He put me on antibiotics for a week, and we are going to do the extraction Tuesday.  Because of this new alternate schedule, I'll have to leave work early --again-- and get another point, and lose three hours pay.  The receptionist told me she could get me in at 4:00, but I'd still have to leave work early, so I took a 1:45 appointment.  That'll give me a couple more hours to recover before having to be back to work at 4:00 AM the next day. 

That's the whole reason I'd scheduled the appointment for today -- so I'd have 4 days off to recover from it.   And also, an excuse to not do anything the whole four days.  I guess I'll have to mow...

But look what I found when I was wandering around Wal-mart waiting for my prescription!

I don't care what the calendar says.  I don't care what the thermometer says.  I don't care what my uptight friend says.  When the candy corn hits the stores, it's almost fall! 

Then, on the way back to my car, I spotted our local Bigfoot hunter. 

I immediately thought of my friend Kristine, and had to snap a pic for her.

I mentioned a few days ago that I wanted a new, wireless printer.  I'd looked locally for several days, but couldn't find the one I wanted.  I finally broke down and ordered one.  It arrived yesterday. 

I haven't hooked it up yet.  That would mean cleaning all the junk off the top of my old one, and I'm just not ready to face that.  Not yet.

I could have paid another $85 for someone to come install it yet, but that's a lot of money for someone to clean up my computer room.  *Snicker*

Adventures!

But not really the kind you want to have.

A couple of weeks ago, I came out of church to a note on my Jimmy telling me that one of my tires was low.  I called James --because I know he has an air compressor-- and he came over and aired it up.

Yesterday when I got to work-- and more about that in a minute-- one of my coworkers told me that my tire was low again.  After work I checked it, and sure enough, it was nearly flat. 

I went to Beverly and James' house, but he had just laid down to go back to sleep because he's working nights this week.  So I went to the gas station on the corner to air it up, then on in to Wal-Mart to get it fixed. 

As soon as I pulled up and saw how many cars were there, I knew it would be a long wait.  But it couldn't be helped.  I had to get the tire fixed. 

It was after 6 when I got home.  Tired, but the good news is, I got out of there without spending $100.  The bad news is, by the time I got home and settled in to watch the last few episodes of Grey's Anatomy, my internet kept dropping out.

So, I couldn't blog yesterday.  I'm going to do the Chat and the movie thing, and just retrodate them.  When you've got finished reading this one, do go back and check them out.  They'll be up in a bit. 

Anyway, It's finally fall!  I don't care what the calendar says.  I don't care what the thermometer says.  Candy Corn is out.

And that means Fall.

While wandering around Wal-mart for two hours, I found this cute little Rattletrap with hearts on it.

It would be just perfect for someone's sweetheart, don't you think?  And I bought a new tacklebox.

My old one was full, and I had fishing lures scattered all over my kitchen.  Now they are all safely tucked away in here. 

OK, I've got three more posts to catch up on, hopefully before my internet drops again, like it did about halfway through this one. 

It's getting annoying.

Really.

Ten On Tuesday

I don't always participate in Ten on Tuesday, but this week's topic is one that is near and dear to my heart:  Fall.  I love Fall.  It is my favorite season of the year, and here are 10 reasons why:

1.  First and foremost, fall brings sweet, blessed relief from the brutal heat and humidity that summer in the deep South brings.  I love that first cool day, the first one I can get through without sweat pouring off of my body, and my clothes sticking to me.  Sweet, sweet relief...

2.  Opening the windows.  I love opening the windows and letting the crisp fall air clear the stale mustiness out of the house.  Fresh air, even if my allergist recommends against it. 

3. The colors of fall--the reds, yellows, browns.  The fall flowers, the leaves turning.  We won't get much of that this year, being as it's been so very dry.  Mostly, they'll just turn brown and fall off the trees. 


4.  Fall decorations--starting with Halloween, then Thanksgiving, and morphing on into Christmas.  I love seeing people's yards decorated with pumpkins, scarecrows, and hay bales.  Speaking of, I love seeing the round hay bales out in the fields, too. 



5.  Scuffling through piles of leaves.  Crunchy leaves are Nature's version of bubble wrap.  Next time you're in a funk, try it.  It works.

6.  Turning on the heater for the first time.  Now, if I had a fireplace, I'd probably have listed the first fire.  But since I don't, I have to settle for the heater.  There is just something comforting about having the heater running. 

7.  The first frost.  Especially when it happens on a day when I don't have to get up and go anywhere.


8.  Hot chocolate, hot tea, hot cider -- Yeah, you can drink these all year round, but they are just better in the fall.



9.  Flannel shirts, flannel pants, flannel sheets--flannel is just so warm and cozy and snuggly.

10.  Football. 

Nuff said.

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Happy Autumn

Today is the Autumnal Equinox, marking the first official day of fall.  I love fall.  It's my favorite season of the year.  To me, fall means crackling leaves, hot chocolate with marshmallows.  The first frost.  Back to school.

Fall is crisp days and chilly nights.  Open windows. That fall smell to the air.  Turning the heater on for the first time.  Turning the air conditioner off for the last time.  Breaking out the sweatshirts and the hoodies.

Fall is harvest.  Fall is pumpkins, hay bales, Indian corn.  Fall is scarecrows, spider lilies and Halloween.  And of course, fall is football.

What fall is not is

Somebody didn't get the memo. 

On a brighter note, looky what I got in the mail today.

I bought it from an Etsy shop, and the color is Cowboy Way .  The colors look pretty good in the hank, but I wish I'd paid more attention to the description.  It's worsted weight.  If I'd known that, I'd have probably bought more than one hank.  Still, it should be enough to get a hat or a scarf out of it.

Squeaky says, "Or you could make a kitty blankie for me."  

Autumn Saturday

I woke up this morning to a little bit of a nip, and a distinctive fall flavor to the air.  An eerie fog crept through the pastures,

 winding its tentacles through the hay bales.

 Off in the distance, repeated gunfire announced the opening of the first hunting season of the year.  It was chilly enough that this

hit the spot.  Instead of waiting for it to cool down enough to walk the dogs, today I had to wait for it to warm up enough. The temperature when I got up:  55'.   It was wonderful!

Last night was the first high school home football game.  I didn't go, but later on as the evening progressed, I wished that I had.  I missed it.  Next week, I just might go.  Who cares if the boy doesn't want me there?  Today is the first full day of college football. 

And, a sure sign that it's definitely fall:

Candy corn in the stores!

A few weeks ago, I'd bought Scarlett a new hide.  Well, she'd gone in and out of it, but still seemed to prefer hiding out under her water bowl.  Last night, I buried the hide and kind of sloped her substrate up until the entrance was right at ground level.  That seemed to do the trick.  When I came into the snake room this morning, there she was.  And she's hardly left it.

Thursday at work, we had some visitors.  I'm not sure who they were, but they were pretty important--as in high up in the Lennox organizations.  I mean really high up.  High up enough to give Greg (the Director of Operations) the jitters and have Jake (the Production Superintendent) positively soil his underpants.  They were all clustered around my brazing stand, when over on the assembly line, one of the line brazers lit her torch.  It made a little pop--not real loud--but loud enough to make one of those visitors nearly jump out of his skin.  I, of course, think such things are absolutely hilarious.  But this was an important person, so I tried not to laugh.  I really did, but I failed miserably. 

As I was standing there, about to blow my eardrums out trying to restrain my laughter, I looked up and the man was looking right at me.  I thought for a moment that I was in real trouble, but then he started laughing, too, and all was right with the world once again.

.

Autumn

It's my favorite time of year.

Fall

Yesterday was the first day of fall, and I completely missed it. With temperatures still in the mid 90's, I can't imagine why...

Harbingers of fall are all over the yard and fields.

These are spider lilies, that I always want to call tiger lilies, though I don't know why. This is a tiger lily: