Substack

My apologies for the lack of a post yesterday.  I'd woken up at 3:00 AM and couldn't for the life of me get back to sleep -- and it had nothing at all to do with a certain cat yowling outside my bedroom door.  In my sleep deprived state, I just didn't feel like posting, even though I had something I wanted to talk about.  I slept much better last night and woke up to the blessed sound of rain!  Yes, rain!   You know, I think I may have had rain as a previous Thanksvember thing, but we need it so badly, I'm making it my Thanksvember Fourteenth:  rain!  

We didn't get much, but every little bit helps, especially now, when 100% of the state is under severe, extreme, or exceptional drought conditions.  

Even the majority of my little county has moved into the exceptional drought state.  So, yes, every drop of rain is desperately needed at this point. 

Before I left for work, I put my little chrysanthemums out into the yard so they could get a good drink of natural water, and when I got home, each one had a bud starting to open!  The weird part is, I'd bought two yellow mums, but these new buds appear to be red.  We'll see once they're fully open.  

In the mean time, here is a photo of hat progress.  

Now I'll tell you what I was going to talk about yesterday, and it just so happens, today is a better day for it anyway.  Why?  I'm not going to tell you.  How about let's play a guessing game.  Does anyone know what today is?  Anyone?  

OK, I'll tell you.  It's my blogiversary! That's right.  On this day way back in 2005, your humble blogger first sat at the keyboard and typed her first blog post.  It's kind of hard to believe it's been 18 years I've been doing this.  

Thanksvember Fifteenth is all of you who've stuck with me through thick and thin.  

You know, I wish blogging would make a comeback.  There was so much more depth to a blog post, and a much better sense of connection in the blogging community.  At least, I felt there was.  

By the way, I created myself a Substack account, but I'm still figuring out how to use it.  I only started it because on of my friends is moving her blog over there, and I wanted to keep up with it.  She'd been with WordPress and said it's "improved beyond usability".  Her words, but I feel the same way about Blogger.  It was so much more user friendly back in the day.  If I didn't have 18 years worth of posts here, I'd move to a different platform myself. 

I'll try to figure out how to do it, but if you follow me over there -- on Substack, I mean -- you're supposed to be able to get links to what I post in your email.  I think.  I'm not completely sure.  I do recommend you do it though, because I know most of you won't come here to read my posts if the links don't show up in your Facebook feed.  I feel that due to Facebook's algorithms, some of you are missing out on posts.  

Facebook is a dying platform anyway, partly because the young people don't get on it.  Facebook is for old folks, they say.  Even more so, because the old folks who are still there are getting more and more frustrated with the site.  

Ten years ago, Facebook was the happenin' place to be.  We would meet in the evenings and chat about what TV shows we were watching, how our day went, and yes...what we were having for dinner.  That's what social media was meant to be, after all.  Social.  

Somewhere along the way, someone decided it needed to be a political debate forum, and those who wanted the front porch atmosphere to continue were mocked and derided.  We were told we weren't serious about what's going on around us, and "by all means, show us your dinner while the world burns."  Completely forgetting as they did so that in real life, we do talk about our dinners.  That's been the topic of conversation all week at work.   Are you cooking for Thanksgiving?  What are you fixing for dinner?  

And we talk about what TV shows we watch, and what's going on in our lives, and what our kids and grandkids did in school-- kind of like we used to do on Facebook.  Used to do... 

Add in the algorithms and the seemingly arbitrary ban hammer, and you get a site that just isn't fun any more.    Ohhh, the ban hammer...It's gotten so bad they don't even tell you what you did any more.  Take yesterday morning for example.  I was in the reading room tending to business, scrolling through Facebook as I did so.  I wasn't even posting, just scrolling.  

While scrolling, I saw that one of my friends had changed his cover photo, so I liked the post.  Almost immediately, the ban hammer dropped. 

No explanation.   No chance to appeal.  Nothing.  All I had done that entire morning was like my friend's new photo, and post my Wordle score.  What was so wrong with that?  How did his photo violate community standards?  It was just a lovely little Fall scene with pumpkins and leaves...Nothing at all controversial or offensive about it.  

Always before when I have been put into Facebook Jail, at least I knew why.  I mean, I didn't agree -- the potted meat filled Twinkies meme was a joke folks, but at least they'd told me why.   And I wasn't really threatening to kill anyone with my brain; that was a line from a TV show, but at least they'd told me why.  This time, nothing.  

All that to say, Facebook isn't what it used to be.  It's too restrictive, and no fun any more.  Thus, the site is dying.  I seldom post there any more, other than links to the blog, Wordle scores, and the occasional comment about the football game or that cat of mine.   

I guess that's all I have for today.  I'm off to figure out how to use that new site I signed up for...

Laters. 

Be Proud Of Me!

 Be proud of me!  Be real proud.  

Why?  

Because I called a plumber!  And the way that happened is as follows.  

I came home after a long day of work, let the dog out, and said to said dog, "I'm going to dig a bit more in this hole.   Just a couple of shovel scoops, though."  I grabbed said shovel and started digging in said hole.

OK, I need to stop saying said...I said.  

After only one shovelful of dirt, it felt like I hit something solid, so I kept going.  It didn't take long to uncover the problem...

Do you see it?  Here it is from a different angle.

There is at least a 3/4" gap between the sewer line and the connection thing.  I don't know what any of it is really called, but let's just say -- it's a big hole in my sewer line.  

I'd originally thought maybe it was just a little crack or something I could patch with some Flex Seal, but after I saw this, I knew I would be in over my head.  I covered the gap with some Walmart sacks in what is probably a vain attempt to prevent more mud from getting into the gap, 

and made the phone call I'd been putting off for so long.  

A friend at work had seen his signs around town and being a regular reader of my blog and knowing all about the troubles I'd been having, she had given me his number.  I'd put it into my phone, but had hesitated calling ... for the reasons I mentioned yesterday.  I finally made that call, and wonder of wonders, he actually answered. Professionally, at that -- "McCrary Plumbing"  instead of  "hello?" .  That was impressive in itself.  That he spoke clearly without mumbling was even more impressive.   

I explained my problem and he said, "It'll be Thursday before I can get out there, but if something happens and you feel you need to call someone else before then, I'll understand."  I'm hoping beyond hope that wasn't him trying to get out of doing the job.  

Still, he took my name and number and said he wrote me down in his book, so maybe -- just maybe, he'll actually show up.  Those of you who pray, pray really hard he'll show up, and more importantly, will come back and actually fix my sewer line. 

In other news, one of my friends has resurrected her long dormant blog, Amnicon Studio.  The link is in my right sidebar.  It's a very nice blog.  Do go check it out.  She said she had gotten a bit burned out with blogging, so now she wants to use her blog as an online knitting journal, which I think is great.  Lots of people got started in the blogging world for similar reasons.  I started this blog back when I was trying to learn to draw, as place to post my sketches.  I'd love to get back to talking about knitting projects, sharing patterns, gushing over the beautiful new yarns I'd bought.  

Truth is, I miss the comradery of the blogging community.   I miss visiting blogs and reading about the authors' adventures -- or mundanities of their lives, whichever the case may be.  I miss having real, in depth conversations via blogging.  I miss the connection I felt with my fellow bloggers -- as opposed to the shallow superficiality of social media.  

And their algorithms that decide what you can and cannot see.  The sad part is, most of my blog traffic comes from Facebook, and if the link doesn't show up in their feeds, most people don't come here.  Me, I'd love to see the blogging community revived.  To once again feel like we're sitting around a table in a coffee shop at the end of the day just chatting -- about this, that, and the other.  

What say we make it happen?  

Random Thoughts Of My Blogiversary.

 1. It was fifteen years ago today, I wrote my very first blog post.  It was originally intended to be a place to post my quick sketches, so I chose the name Sketches And More.  Dumb, huh?  Over time, it expanded to include knitting, karate, and my general life.  I never figured I'd still be going after this long.  For those of you still reading, thank you for sticking with me. 

2.  I finished a sock yesterday.  

The pattern is Bubble Wrap from the now defunct Sockbug blog.  You can still get a PDF of this pattern through the Wayback Machine if you go to that site and search for it.  I won't link them here, though.  If you're a knitter, you probably know which site I'm talking about, and you also understand why I'm not linking.  

Wonder of wonders, I managed to avoid Second Sock Syndrome and cast on the other sock. 

3. It's been very beautiful weather wise this weekend. I've been able to keep my French Doors open all day and let the dogs come and go as they pleased.  They weren't the only ones who came and went.

I had me a little visitor drop by for a few minutes.  I believe it's a little wren. I turned off all the lights in the kitchen, and he soon found his way back outside.  It was fun while it lasted, though. 

4.  I caught a nice, fat rat in my live trap this morning.  I thought for a minute that I ought to kill him, but I didn't.  My heart got tender for just a minute, and I let him go. I may scatter some corn out for him tomorrow when I fill the squirrel feeder.  He needs to stay fat.  If things get really bad, he might become dinner.

5.  I'm not sure what's wrong with me lately.  Despite having all of these long weekends, I'm feeling tired and run down.  I don't have any interest in doing anything.  Between the pandemic, the elections, and the over active hurricane season, stress levels have been high this year.    Even I'm starting to feel it.  People asked me what I did for my birthday, and all I could say was "nothing."  All my family is out of state, and all my friends live in the computer, so what am I going to do?  I'm feeling the need to get together with Amy and Christi...soon.  What say, ladies?  Shall we make a day of it?  

6.  You might not get a Christmas concert next month.  I was stressing so much over getting these songs right that playing stopped being fun.   I had to start playing for my own enjoyment again.  It's kind of fun going back to my level 1 books and playing the simple stuff again. 

7.  Yesterday afternoon, while I was watching cheesy Hallmark Christmas movies, my friend texted me and said they'd fired the safety lady out at work.  I haven't found out why.  I wonder if it had something to do with the other firings a few weeks ago.  If I find anything out, I'll be sure to let you know.

8.  I guess that's about it for tonight. Goodnight, everybody. 

And Just Like That...Again

Guess what happened at work today?  Go on guess!  Betcha can't guess...

If you said they told us to go back to 8 hour shifts, give yourself a chocolate!  Yep, just like that, I'm back to going in from 6:00 - 2:00.  

Sometimes I feel like one of those paddle ball things, you know, where you keep slapping the ball back and forth.  I told my coworker the set button on my alarm clock is going to get worn out before this is all over.  

To make matters worse, Blogger is still screwing up their site.  Sheesh, haven't you ever heard of the keep it simple, stupid premise?  Just to resize a picture now takes three clicks, instead of just the one.  It's almost enough to make me migrate to Wordpress.  

OK, enough of that.  As promised, here are the Zoom Loom squares I promised to show you yesterday.

But, you may ask, why would I start weaving a bunch of new squares when I already have a bag full?  

Simple, because weaving them is much more fun than sewing them together!  But this time, I'm going to try something different.  I'm going to sew them together as I go.  My rule is, I have to join the square I just finished before I can weave another one.  I may even get a few out of the bag and add them.  I'm also deliberately leaving my tails a little long, so I can use them for sewing.   I'll keep you updated on how that goes. 

There has also been knitting.  

There is good news on the horizon.  Another state has announced it's loosening its lock down restrictions.   I was going to give you a big, long spiel about what the purpose of the shelter in place orders were, and blah, blah, blah, but then I found this gem by that explains it so much better than I could.

In which Bill provides the voice of reason, and gets a bit wound up in the end.

I know, I know, some of you are out there thinking, "I'm not coming out until it's 100% safe."  In that case, you'll be holed up forever, because "Until it's safe" means never. 

And Just Like That

Just like that, I'm back on 10 hour shifts.

The way it happens is as follows.

Way back in January, when I was scheduling my vacation for the year, I'd put in for today.  I figured it'd be a good day to plant my flower beds.  However, what with all that's been going on lately, I just haven't felt like fooling with flowers.  I've barely even gone into the garden center.

Yesterday after work, I had to run in for some milk and bananas -- and a few other things.  Since birdseed was one of the few other things I needed, while I was in the garden center, I picked up a few packets of wildflower seeds.  I'm not sure why.  I've never had much luck with them.  They just never grow.

Last night, I got an idea.  Maybe they weren't not growing.  Maybe the birds are eating the seeds before they can sprout.  So this morning, after laying in bed for nearly an hour after the alarm went off -- because I had the day off and I could -- I got out there and clawed up the little section of my garden I was planning on planting them in, removed as many weed roots as I could, and scattered the seeds across the bed.  I used my dirt rake to stir them into the soil, then I went and cut my grass.

I'd been reading my friend Marcy's blog, and she had mentioned they'd planted some grass and covered it with hay to keep the birds from finding the seeds.  I thought, "What is hay but dried grass?"   Thus, I covered my newly planted seeds with grass clippings.

In a day or two, the grass will dry out, and voila': hay!  Maybe this year, I'll get some wildflowers.  Since I had some leftover grass clippings, I put a few around my little bluebonnets.

By the way, if anyone knows how to kill Creeping Charlie without killing my grass, please, please, please let me know.  It's taking over my yard.  But look here!  I have a white bluebonnet!

These are the seeds my friend Cyndye sent me last spring.  She has some pale pink bluebonnets, and was hoping some of their seeds made it into the ones she sent me.  I'm hoping they seed and fill the bed up next year.

Also, look!  My roses are blooming!

I'd cut them back pretty hard last year, and was afraid I'd killed them, but no.  I need to get out there and clean out some of the dead bits, but other than that, I'm only going to cut the parts that stick straight out into the yard from now on.

Also also, the garden mum I'd thought was dead has taken off and is growing.  It should be gorgeous by fall.

Now, I know you're all wondering by now how all this got me back onto ten hour shifts.  Well, I'll tell you.  Once I'd finished mowing, I was so drenched with sweat, I decided I was done for the day.  It wasn't that hot, but the humidity was so high, and it couldn't seem to decide if it was going to storm or not.

I came inside, took a shower, and sat down to watch some TV and weave more Zoom Loom squares.  I'll tell you about that tomorrow.  As I was sitting there watching TV and weaving more Zoom Loom squares, I got a text from my coworker.

Yeah, we knew that wouldn't last.  At least this time, those extra two hours count towards overtime. 

And finally, Blogger has changed their dashboard layout.  I hate it.  Seriously, I hate it.  It took me forever just to figure out how to start a new post.  And I can't open just one post any more.  Or I can't figure out how to open a single post any more, rather.  Not from the dashboard, at least.  The old way was much simpler, and much better. 

They need to change it back. 

Rerun

So, there I was, laying in the bed last night, about to drift off to sleep when I heard the tell-tale sound of a mouse chewing.  In my bathroom.  Now, why -- and what -- it would be chewing on in the bathroom is beyond me, but there it was.

I got up and turned the lights on, making a lot of noise, hoping to scare it off.  It worked, but only for a moment.  After it came back the second time, I went into the utility room and got my mouse poison.



I'd bought some last week after hearing the tell tale sound of chewing in my kitchen.  Since I don't have a cat to worry about eating a poisoned mouse carcass any more, I got the Tomcat brand with the plastic thing you can put the bait inside so the dogs don't get it.

Did that make sense?

I put the stuff inside my vanity, from where it seemed the noise was coming, and went back to bed.  A few minutes later, I thought I heard plastic rattling -- just before I drifted off to sleep.  I haven't checked to see if the bait block has been nibbled on, but I hope that  mouse found it.  And ate it.  And died from it, even though I may have to put up with stinky dead mouse smell for a while.

And here's the thing...I don't even know why I'm telling you that, but I didn't have anything else to blog about.

Want to hear something ironic?

I was scrolling through my Timehop app on my phone, and this old blog post popped up.

What Do People Talk About?

I'm not really a very good conversationalist.  I never know what to talk about.  I've asked some of my chatty friends what they talk to people about, and they tell me, "Oh, talk about anything.  Talk about the weather.  Talk about your kids.  Just talk about anything."

But I've found that you can only say, "Hot enough for you?" so many times before people start wanting to strangle you.  And the whole talking about your kids thing doesn't really work for me.  I find that most people would rather talk about their own kids than hear about mine.

So I stand there and watch people chatting away, talking to each other, while I retreat inside my head and tell myself

Dernt Blernk

and

That's what people CHEW!! 

over and over and over...

Nobody gets it.  Nobody gets me.

I was pondering this yesterday when the following words popped into my head.

My World 

I live in a world inside my head
With many, many paths to tread
Twists and turns and winding roads.
At times I end up far from home.

If you love me; if you care
Help me find my way from here.
Better yet, come fly with me
For here, with you, I will be free.

Be my anchor, be my guide.
Believe in me and I will fly.
Be my courage, be my strength
And there's no limit to my reach.

Hold my hand, hold my heart
Promise me we'll never part.
Through twists, through turns, through winding roads
I'll finally find my way back home.



P.S. If it's dumb, don't tell me. I don't want to know.

It just seemed fitting to re-run it.

BTW, nobody has guessed what the Whovian surprise in yesterday's video was.  Really, nobody even tried,  (Amy?  Kristine?  Lisa?)   so I'll give you a hint.  Watch the left side of the screen. 

Closely. 

Firewood and Camouflage

Before I dive into today's blog post, I have a little business that needs tending to.  As most of you have heard by now, Google + is shutting down in April.  If you've never heard of Google +, it was a social media site -- Google's alternative to Facebook.  It never really took off.  I liked it, but could never convince any of my friends to join.

You would think as much as people grouse and moan about Facebook, they'd be more willing to try out some of these alternatives, but no.  I think they'd just rather stay put and gripe.  I've joined several other social media sites, but it's like pulling teeth to get people to sign up for them.  Maybe in the near future, I'll do a post about some of them.  And yes, I do have a clear favorite. Which none of my friends are on.  "Not user friendly" they say.  But when I ask what about them isn't user friendly, they can't answer.  I think they're just more disposed to suffer while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by throwing off the sites to which they are accustomed.

Anyway, the whole point of all that is, if you follow my links from Google +, and want to keep reading (because I really want you to keep reading), I would encourage you to book mark the site, or follow me on Feedly.  Other alternatives including friending me on Facebook, or following me on Instagram.

Now that that bit of housekeeping is taken care of, on to my exciting Saturday life.  Woo hoo!  I know you can't wait!  All righty, then...

Friday afternoon, I was out back hauling up some firewood, when I noticed my pile was beginning to get a little low.

No big deal, I thought, because I still have all this other wood from the tree I had cut down.

I hauled out my splitting wedge and Mjolnir and got to work.  I got three pieces "busted" as they say in this part of the South, and began to realize why our ancestors never got fat and had heart attacks.  That is hard work, I'm telling you!  Our ancestors were definitely made of tougher stuff than we are.

Still, I'm going to try to get out and get one or two pieces split per day until it's all ready for the wood stove.  Hopefully, I'll get it done before it gets too hot.  I've thought about buying a gasoline log splitter, but once this pile is all taken care of, I won't have a need for it any more.  I'd have to sell it at a loss, and don't really want to go there.

I went out today and got a couple more pieces split, then came inside and cast on a new hat.

That new yarn I bought looks much more like hunting camo than the Woodsy I was using before.  Yes, I'd been saying the name wrong.  It's not Woodland.  It's Woodsy.  Like the pollution owl.  Remember him?

Help Woodsy spread the word, 
Never be a dirty bird

Yeah...

As you can see, I'm about halfway through the orange stripe, then I'm going back to the camo for the crown and decreases.  I might put an orange pom pom on it.  I haven't decided yet.

That's about all I've got for today, unless you want to hear about washing dishes and doing laundry.  Oh, I did get a letter into the mail, and have another one about halfway written.

Again, if I have your address, it could be for you!  You'll just have to watch your mailbox and see!

More Experimenting

The subject of today's experiment is to see if I can post pictures from my Kindle. The one I posted yesterday had already been uploaded to the blog, so it was easy.   Now, I want to figure out how to upload one from my device. So here goes...

Cool! It worked!  I don't have a photo editing program on said Kindle, so I can't crop or adjust the colors. Basically, what you see is what you get. And it doesn't look like the camera is the greatest, but it'll do in a pinch.

Speaking of, after I signed off last night, I went back to Amazon and ordered the new Fire tablet. I'd gone to other websites and the really good tablets were way out of my budget. Of the affordable ones, the Fire seemed the best bet. I like the Fire I have now, so there is that.  The new one will be just a bit bigger.

Remember that guy who wanted to plant tomatoes in a corner of my yard? He ain't doing that again. He hasn't taken care of them at all.

The weeds have completely swallowed them up, and recent storms have knocked them over. I went out and picked them back up last time, but I'm not doing it again. The guy hasn't even been out to check on them in a month.  What tomatoes he does have are rotting in the ground.

There really aren't even any worth salvaging, because the ones still on the plant are bug eaten.

Oh, I should probably mention my new   zinnias, seen in the top photo. I've given up on anything but grass growing in my so called wildflower bed, so I put some  zinnias in it. The two on the right are Magellan, and the yellow one is double profusion.

Once it cools off some, I'm thinking about clawing the rest of the bed up and putting some fall plants in it. Maybe some garden mums or pansy.

July is half over, and big changes are coming at work. I'm going to keep you in suspense, though, until I post from my computer again.

One final note. I'm listening to Christmas music.

So there.

I Forgot

While I'm at work, I'm making plans.  I say to myself, I'm going to do this when I get home, and I'm going to do that when I get home, and I'm going to be so productive when I get home and get so much stuff done. Then I get home, and all I do is sit.  Watch TV.  Browse Facebook.  And I don't do anything I'd planned on doing. 

I'm sure you've been there, too.

Sometimes, blogging is the same way.  All day yesterday, I was mentally composing a blog post.  Oh, it was a wonderful post, but when I got home, for the life of me, I couldn't remember what it was.  The only thing I could remember is the imaginary post I'd written debunking a ridiculous hurricane Irma meme I'd seen on FB, but that wasn't it.  I knew there was more.  I just couldn't remember what. All evening, I wracked my brain trying to think of something to post, but couldn't come up with anything, so you didn't get a post. 

I got up bright and early this morning, and went to work.  About halfway across the parking lot, I remembered.  I remembered what I was going to blog about yesterday.  Fat lot of good it did me then.  Nevertheless, I whipped out my phone and made myself a note, reminding myself what it was I'd wanted to blog about.  Thus, you get yesterday's post today.

What with cooler weather coming in, and shorter hours at the plant, I'm starting to want to do a little more work on my house.  First thing I want to do is get the crown molding and baseboards up in my bedroom, and crown molding in my bathroom.  Then those two rooms will be finished for the time being.

The other half finished project I want to complete is stripping all that thick, gloppy paint off the bricks behind my wood burner.  The good news is, I have discovered that I can get a wire brush attachment for my angle grinder, so that ought to help out a lot.  Once I get it stripped back to the brick, I want to paint it a light gray -- kind of a stone gray color -- then reinstall the mantle.  I may hire someone to do that, too.  Or I may try to do it myself.  The mantle is just regular old 2 x 12 pine boards, so it wouldn't be too hard to replace it if I mess it up.

That will take care of the half finished projects.  Next up on the list: get my living room painted.  This time around, I'm going to take Supervisor Ronny's advice and put down a coat of Kilz primer first.  And maybe use my belt sander with fine paper to remove the finish on the paneling.  I'm not sure about that, though.  If I'm not careful, I could put even more gouges into the walls.  I may try it on the walls that will be covered by my entertainment center first, just to see how it goes.

Step 1: remember where I put my belt sander...

Finally, I put me a little bit of fall color out.

This wreath was on my front door, but I decided I wanted it where I could see it.  I need to get some little somethings to put on either side of that candle holder, too.  Those spots look empty.  Probably this weekend, I'm going to drag the big box of decorations in from the shed and start putting stuff up.

September is halfway over.    How did that happen anyway?

Monday Miscellany

Back in the day, back when James found Squeaky wandering in my front yard, I didn't know when she'd been born. She looked like she was around 4 months old, so I arbitrarily assigned her a January birthday.   What better day in January to acknowledge her birth than the first?

Yes, I know today is the second, but there just didn't seem to be any place to put her birthday in yesterday's post without disrupting the flow of what I was writing.  Eh, she's not picky.  So, Happy Birthday, Squeaky.  It's her sweet 16th.

Squeaky says, "You woke me up for this?????"

Her Highness was not amused.  But at least I escaped unbloodied -- this time.


OK, then, moving right along...

My big project for the day was to get my Christmas decorations all taken down and put away.  Nifty thing is, one day last week when I was out getting some firewood, I discovered that the previous owner had stacked some of that wood on a pallet.  I'm not sure what it's made out of, but it looks like some kind of hard rubber or plastic. 

I got out there and got it.  I washed it off and put it into my shed to put my Christmas tree on.  When it rains, the floors in my shed get very wet.  I'm not sure if the rain is running in under my doors or if it's just the humidity.  I had some books in cardboard boxes get ruined because of this.  When I first realized what was happening, I set my Christmas tree up on some pieces of wood, so the stand wouldn't rust from sitting in water.  Setting it up on this pallet will be even better. 

I really need to start working on cleaning that shed out. 

Anyway, I wanted to get everything put back into the shed before the expected storms hit, and let me tell you, I barely made it.  Not 5 minutes after I'd taken the last box out there, the bottom dropped out and it came a regular gully washer. 

We got quite a bit of rain, but not the bad storms they were predicting.  At least, not here where I live.   There was a tornado South of here, but no injuries have been reported.

I've been blogging for a while now, but I don't have a really huge following.  My blog usually gets between 75 - 100 hits per post.  Not a whole lot, but not too shabby, either.  Every once in a while, though, I publish a post that gets an inordinate number of hits.  Like this one:

I wonder what it is about that one post that made it get 920 hits.  Not that I'm complaining, mind you.  I just wonder what made it so interesting, and what can I do to make the rest of my posts just as interesting? 

Finally, Beverly has been going through some of her mother's old photos and posted these.  This first one was taken around 1954 or 1955. 

That's my dad, standing in the back in the middle.  His two sisters are on either side of him, along with their husbands and children.  That's my Mammaw and Pappaw sitting in the front.

This next one looks like it was taken in late 1951 or early 1952. 

This last one was taken in the late 1940s. 

My dad is in his Army uniform, but I don't know if this was taken before he went to Japan, or after he got back.

Well, I have to go back to work tomorrow, and I'm not looking forward to it.  But at least, maybe I'll have something interesting to blog about. 

We shall see.

Yesterday's Post

What I posted yesterday was not what I had planned on posting yesterday.  Oh, it started off as planned, but after telling you about how I'd thought about taking all my Christmas decorations down, I'd planned on telling you how I ended up putting even more out, though I hadn't planned on that.  Putting more out, I mean. 

I was going to tell you how I went into Cody's room to find some wrapping paper, and found these birch bark candles that I'd had forever, and decided to put them out.  Then I was going to tell you how I went out to the shed to get the pine garland to put around them, and found some picks Beverly gave me last year, and added them to the display.

Then I was going to tell you how I wrapped the other thing of pine garland around the bowl of balls and book on the bottom shelf, and added a few picks to that.  And I was going to tell you how, when I took the box of garland that I wasn't putting out this year back out to the shed, I found a box of small glass balls, and thought they'd work well in this vase.  

 I was going to tell you how I put the small balls in the vase and took the gold garland that was in the vase and wrapped it around the bottom, and it looks pretty good.  Then I decided Santa needed something, so I gave him a carpet of garland, too. 

I was going to wrap it all up by telling you that I'd gone that far, so I might as well go all the way, and put up my wreath and stockings.

And this wreath and these stockings.

I'd thought about mentioning that I'd made those stockings when I was a little girl and had given them to my Mammaw, and after she died, I got them back and have put them out every year since I got my own home.  Finally, I'd planned on telling you that I wanted to put up Santa and the two elves, but haven't figured out where to put them yet. 

That was what I'd planned on posting yesterday, but things didn't quite work out that way.  Once I got to writing, the post took on a life of its own.  Sometimes, when the words flow, all you can do is ride that river all the way to the ocean. 

If you're a writer, you know what I'm talking about.  

Now, for today's news.  The big green chair is no longer in my living room.

I was going to put it out for the trash men to pick up, but someone posted on the local free-bees group about wanting a recliner.  I offered her mine, and this evening, she sent her sons to pick it up.  It's amazing how much bigger my living room looks without it.

The bad news is, Rylea isn't speaking to me right now. 

Can't win them all.

Blogiversary

Yes, friends, eleven years ago today, I wrote my very first blog post.

And the world has yet to recover.

We've come a long way from my sketch of Squeaky.




Cody was only 12, Squeaky was 4, and Rylea and Jesse hadn't been born yet.



Cody was shorter, as were my blog posts.

Honestly, I never thought it would last this long, but I'm sure glad it has.  And I'm thankful for every one of my readers.

I hope you stick around for the rest of it...

So That Happened

I was walking down the aisle at work when a coworker stopped me and said, "I've read some of your blog posts on Facebook.  Not all of them, but I see the ones [our other coworker Edna] likes, and I just wanted to say, I love reading what you write."

After gushing my thanks most effusively -- well, as effusive and gushy as someone like me can be-- I walked on and went back to work.  But I've got people commenting on my posts, and complimenting me on what I write, and my blog hits are up from an average of 20 per day a couple of years ago, to nearly 100 per day now.  Could it be that after half a century of being the nerdy little bookworm, I'm suddenly becoming popular?

Pardon me while I have an existential crisis....

OK, I'm back now.

Moving right along, I've gotten my hat moved to my DPNs.

I was going to try to finish it today, but I decided it's just not going to happen.  I'll finish it tomorrow or Friday.

Rylea says, "Just so long as you don't try to make me wear it."

"I mean it, Mama.  Remember, you have to sleep sometime."

Sometimes, I jes' don' know 'bout that dog.




Looks like I'm back on my Piano Guys kick.

Hey, there's a whole lot worst things to be hung up on.

Words

I spent all day at work yesterday, mentally composing last night's blog post.  Oh, it was a beautiful post.  It was eloquent.  It was flowing.  It would have made you laugh.  It would have made you cry. It would have moved you.  I couldn't wait to get home and post it.

After a long, tiring day that seemed to last forever and had me singing songs about days that never end, they just go on and on my friend*, I rushed home and fired up the old PC.

And got the dreaded message:  We're updating your PC.  Please don't turn off your computer.  Under that in smaller letters:  This may take a while.

Sigh...

I turned on my Fire Stick and watched Piano Guys videos.  Checked the computer.  Nope, not done yet.

I watched Graham Norton clips.  Checked the computer.  Nope, not done yet.

I watched Olympics.  I knit on my latest hat.  I took a shower...Nope.  Not done yet.

Two hours later...yep, two hours later, the computer was finally done updating.  By that time, I was tired, frustrated, and ready for bed. So that's why, instead of eloquence, you got "Wut r werds?"

Today was a much better day.  My work day was not as long nor as frustrating as yesterday.  Then I went to the store, and look what I found!

And look what else I found!

I don't care what the calendar says, when the candy corn hits the stores, it's Fall.

On the way out, I found this 'Merica candy.  Because 'Merica, that's why.

But I didn't buy it.

Because $9 a bag, that's why.


*This is the day that never ends
It just goes on and on my friends
Some people started living it, not knowing what it was
They'll continue living it forever just because
This is the day that never ends
It just goes on and on my friends.

And now you've got that song stuck in your head.

You're welcome.

Words?

This has been me lately.

At work, I can think up long, eloquent posts.  Driving around town, lying in bed, shopping, even watching TV, the words just flow.  Oh, they're beautiful posts.  They'd make you laugh.  They'd make you cry.  They'd make you reconsider the course of your life.  

But the minute I open my blog, everything goes out the window. I'm sitting there staring at a blank screen thinking, "wut r werds."  And you end up with posts like this.

However, all is not lost, as I do have a finished object to show you.

This is the hat I knit for my sister in law's Christmas gift.  So, Paula, if you're reading this, use the Men In Black little flashy thing so you'll be surprised in December!  This was such a nifty little pattern, I may make several more for the charity drawer with all that yarn my mother in law sent me. 

And look, another surprise!

I've got daffodils coming up.  I wasn't sure if they had survived, since I was so late in planting them.  I've still got a bucket full of spider lily bulbs I've got to get into the ground. 

With all this rain we've been getting, the ground ought to be soft enough.