No Market Again

I did it.  This morning, I actually got dressed and drove down to the farmer's market on the square.  Alas, I had forgotten about the BBQ cookoff they have during Thunder On Water weekend.  Oh, they still had the farmer's market, but their booths tend to get pushed off to the side.  Not only that, they had the entire street leading to the square blocked off, so I couldn't even drive down there.  

Yes, I could have driven around and parked on the South side, but I didn't want to.  I turned around and drove right back to the Lee Tartt Nature Preserve and walked the Bottomland trail.  I'd made it almost to the .8 mile marker when I saw stretched across the trail the most perfect little spider web I ever did see, with a teensy little spider sitting right in the middle.   

The web was so perfect, and the spider was so tiny I just couldn't blow through it.  And with that, my walk came to a screeching halt.   Except I still had to turn around and walk back to the car, so I didn't quite screech.  

But there is one cool thing on that trail.  You can put your phone into a bracket thing and take a photo, 

then email that photo to the address on the sign, 

and it will add it to their photo stream of that location.  Maybe if I start walking that trail more often, I can record the change of seasons.  

It wasn't that hot out yet, but it was so humid that by the time I got back to the car, I was still drenched in sweat, so I didn't do much else the rest of the day.  I had done most of the laundry yesterday, and had to set up my clothes horse in the kids' room because it was raining. 

I'd said I was going to tear into that dryer and see if I could see what the problem was, but truth is I didn't really feel like it, so I left that for another day.  Instead, I told the cat we were going to take it easy today.  I did the rest of the laundry.  I piddled in the garden a bit.  I mended the garden hose -- telling it that this was the last time and if it broke again, it was going into the trash.  I tore up some more cardboard boxes and added them to my black compost bag.  I separated the little tomato seedlings and put each one into its own cell in the tray. 

After I took the photo, I brought them inside and put them under the grow light just to give them a minute to recover from the transplant shock.  I'll put them back outside in the morning. 

In other news, I watched the episode of House Hunters last night, and they actually did show the town.  There were a couple of drone shots of the downtown area, and I could clearly see the gazebo on the square.  Somehow, they miraculously managed to hide that falling down building.  Maybe because they were so high in the air, it wasn't that noticeable.  They showed a couple of shots of the lake, and the husband was very excited about the fishing prospects here. 

The realtors showed them three houses, one of which was in the nearby town of Carrollton.  As you can imagine, I was shouting at the TV, "Oh, come on!  Don't put them in Carrollton!"  Local folks will understand.  

They chose a house in Grenada, and it's funny because I'd been looking at that very house on Zillow.  No, I'm not looking to buy another house.  I can't even afford the one I have, much less a new one.  I just like looking at houses and dreaming.  

Now for something I have done in a while -- a meme debunkeration.  This one is so stupid, I can't even believe I'm having to debunk it. 

It's common sense, really.  Ticks are everywhere, just like fleas and mosquitoes.  They don't need to be "delivered" anywhere, because they're already here.  True they crawl slower than a snail, so how do they get around?  I'll give you a hint:  They bark.  They meow.   They moo.  They neigh.  They cheep, cluck, or screech.  Yes, ticks hitch rides on animals and birds.  I can't believe I even have to say that.  

The reason we're seeing "outbreaks" is because the weather is warming up and the ticks beginning to move.  Or if you're in the south, they're already moving.   It happens every spring.   Seriously, people.  Not everything is some deep dark plot to get you.  Sometimes nature is just nature being nature.  

And finally, your humor for the day. 

I feel this to the depths of my soul.  I miss the days when you turned something on and it worked.  No app.  No account.  No signing in.  You turned it on and it just did what it was supposed to do. 

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to sign in to my TV so I can sign in to my Pluto account, so I can watch reruns of Digging For The Truth. 

Laters...

Meet The Teacher

I'd thought about going to the store after work today, because I'm almost out of milk.  Then I remembered it's Meet The Teacher day, so I decided not to. 

Just in case you don't know what Meet The Teacher day is, it's when you and your child go up to the school to get the kid's schedules and school supply lists.  At least, that's how it's supposed to be.  

How it really happens is that the student, parents, both sets of grandparents, various aunts, uncles, cousins, and your long lost 27th cousin from the old country Wilhelm all go up to the school and mill around in the halls.  And someone brings a dog.  

Seriously.

I remember when Cody was still in school, someone was up there with a dog at Meet The Teacher day.   True story.

Then, once the parents have the school supply lists, they, the student, both sets of grandparents, various aunts, uncles, cousins, and your long lost 27th cousin from the old country Wilhelm all go to Walmart to crowd into the two aisles that have school supplies and buy them.   And someone usually gets into a fight over the last five subject binder. 

Yeah, I'll go tomorrow.  

I came on home and went out back to water my grass seed, but when I turned on the water, my hose blew.  I wasn't too surprised, because it had had a weak spot there for a while.  I expected it to burst sooner or later.  And sooner or later came today. 

I tried to repair it with my handy dandy duct tape, but it didn't work too well. 

I guess I didn't get the tape wrapped tightly enough, because water was squirting out of both sides.  Ah well, it held long enough to get my grass and basil plants watered, and I'll look for a repair thing at Walmart tomorrow.  If they don't have one, there's always Amazon.  

And finally, after a bit of a hiatus, you get a meme debunkeration!  When all these NFL stars are supposedly saying the same thing, you've got fake sites on your hands. 

 

I could go on, but I think you get the idea.  

It's so obvious, yet people still fall for it.  

Good News

I didn't blog last night.  Sorry, you got pre-empted because I decided to spent the evening with Ryan and Matt.  

The good news is, the severe weather stayed well to the north of me, and all I got here in the Fine Martial household was one brief shower.  Not even enough to wet the dust.  With that in mind, when I got home this afternoon, I checked the front yard, and it felt dry enough, so I mowed. 

It was way past time.  If you can see the neighbor's yard in the back of the photo, that's what mine looked like, too.  Of course, the hardest part was getting my stupid lawnmower to start.  I really need to get that thing fixed, or toss it and buy a new one.  Eh, the part I need isn't that expensive.  I'll order one and try to replace it before I buy a whole new lawnmower. 

On a similar note, the landscaper came out yesterday and started spreading the dirt. 

He didn't get very far before he quit for the day. 

He said he was going to come back today and work some more, but he didn't show.  At this point, I'm starting to wonder if  a) he even knows what he's doing, and b) if I'm getting ripped off again.  I'm going to give him a few more days, and hope he finishes the job.  Maybe he will, especially since I haven't paid him yet!  

We're supposed to have a few more days of dry weather before the next round of storms moves in on Saturday.  Speaking of, we have Saturday off!  Woo Hoo! 

Anyway, I moved my banana pepper to the front porch beside the tomato plant. 

It'll get good sun there, and will be protected from the driving rain -- which I hope we're about done with for a while.   I mean, I really hope so that the landscaper can finish the garden spot at least.   My little basil are getting mighty big. 

On a not so good note, the ants finally figured out how to climb down the yarn I'd hung the feeder with and get into the hummingbird nectar, so I did what any red blooded American would do.  I hopped on to Amazon and ordered some new ant moats. 

I'll just toss the ant moat that came with the feeder and be done with it.  I meant to show you this the other day.  It's the hanging loop that cracked. 

Since I had ordered these in a two pack, I put a zip tie on the second feeder,   

hoping spreading the weight over a larger surface will make the loop last longer, instead of that metal hook cutting through it like it does.  But even if it does break, I'll just tie some more yarn and hang it from one of my new ant moats. 

In the Can This Scam Be Any More Obvious department, if you really are an exclusive headhunter, why do you have three different e-mail addresses?  

I'm sure by now you've heard of President Biden's cancer diagnosis, and as you may expect, the koo koo bird conspiracy theorists are already coming up with the most outlandish nonsense.  

The sad part is, there are people who actually believe this nonsense.  Alas, they are so brainwashed -- read: desperate to be relevant -- you can't blast these kinds of beliefs out of their brains with dynamite. 

More good news, while I was typing out this post, the landscaper messaged me letting me know he wanted to stop by here in a little bit to see what the rain did.  Since we barely got any here, I think he'll be pleased. 

I hope so.  I know he's ready to get this monkey off his back, too. 

Almost Back

Hallelujah!  I am almost back to where I was before I frogged my great-nephew's sweater. 

For those of you who were kind enough to pretend not to notice, I'd forgotten to knit the border stitches on one of my wrong side rows, leaving a huge gap in the front border.  You can see the one row of stockinette in the midst of all of that garter stitch.  

But I have checked, double checked, and triple checked this second iteration, and we're good to go.  

In other news, I've heard from the landscaper and he's going to come out tomorrow and start clearing all the stuff out of my garden spot.  He told me it's all the rain we've been having that has delayed things, because the place he gets his dirt from is waterlogged, just like everything else around here.  He's hoping they can deliver late this week, but it might even be next week before they can come.  

Even so,  I'm ready to get this whole thing started -- and over with so I can get my raised beds into place and start getting things planned out.  Heh, I was having the hardest time texting with the landscaper when about halfway through our convo, I realized my phone was set to the French keyboard.  

Speaking of -- my garden, not the French keyboard -- I've got one lonely little sunflower seedling.  So far. 

I do hope there will be more before it's all said and done.   And look at this!  I've got blooms on my sweet banana pepper plant!

Once everything is all in place, I'd like to get about six of these.  At least if Walmart still has some by the time I get my beds set up.   I may have to wait until next year to really get things going.   

In other news, it's been a minute, but you get...yes, a meme debunkeration!  I've been seeing this one going around FB again lately, 

and my first thought was, "Why?"  If you want to know where a product was made, just look at the label where it says, "Made in..."  Second of all, it's just not true.  I didn't even have to research this one.  All I had to do was to grab the nearest product with a bar code.  In this case, it was the weather seal stuff I'd bought to put around my new window unit in the bedroom. 

As you can clearly see, the first two numbers are 07, but it was made in...read it out loud.  

Made in China. 

Try it for yourself.  Grab the nearest thing with a bar code and check.  Then check those memes before you pass them on.  

And finally, as if they didn't think we had enough on our plates at work, they told us today we can no longer go get the dispatcher to print out our scrap tickets.  The dispatcher came around and gave us all a list of scrap codes and a stack of scrap tickets, and told us that from now on, we'd have to write them all out in longhand.  

It's bad enough that the tickets we write aren't even for our scrap.  It's all tubing's.   The only scrap tickets I should be responsible for are if I should braze something wrong or burn something up.  I shouldn't have to write a ticket if tubing over runs a part, or bends it wrong, or lets poor quality go down the line.  But I do.  Why?  I don't know.  

Only now, we have to HANDWRITE them.  In long hand with a pen...

They stand up there every single morning, telling us our numbers aren't good enough, but they keep piling more and more on our shoulders, then wonder why our production drops.  

There's a duh moment if ever there was one. 

Chilly Saturday

The raggedy tails of Hurricane Helene blew themselves out during the night, and this morning dawned cloudy, chilly, and damp.  It was chilly enough the coffee hit the spot, and my new lounge pants felt nice and warm. 

I found these at Walmart yesterday, less than $10, and they have pockets.  Functional pockets that will hold both a phone and a hand.  I'd bought a couple pairs last year, and was glad to see them back on the shelves this Fall.  

By the way, I can't debunk this meme.  

I don't know if the percentages are completely accurate, but based on my own frustrating attempts to find women's clothing with functional pockets, I wouldn't doubt that they are.  I've never understood why clothing designers seem to think we don't want or need functional pockets, especially in exercise wear.  It's not like I'm going to want to lug a purse around with me when I'm out walking.  I just need something that will fit a phone and ID.  

I don't carry a purse anymore anyway.  To me, it's just a handy way to lose everything at once.  But I digress...

After my morning coffee, I went outside and piddled in the yard a bit, and found the storm had broken off another branch of my sunflower. 

Given the devastation up in NC and Tennessee, I'm not complaining. My heart goes out to those people.  You never expect a hurricane when you live in the mountains.  They're just not prepared for it.  Entire towns have been wiped off the map.  Roads and bridges swept away in the flooding.  They say Asheville, North Carolina is completely cut off by flooding.  The only way in or out is by helicopter -- although the water may have receded some by the time this gets published.  I remember going to youth camp just outside of Asheville, so I have fond memories of the place. I will be sure to give a little extra to the Southern Baptist Disaster Relief Fund. 

Anyway, I chopped up the broken branch and put it into the compost, then began deadheading some of the spider lilies.  It always makes me sad that they die back so quickly.  I didn't get very far, because they were still so wet with morning dew my clothes were getting soaked.  I'd said I was going to go back outside after said dew dried, but I got caught up watching the rest of season 1 of Downton Abbey, and then the football games started, and that's where I've been ever since. 

Navy won and is now 4-0.  Texas got off to a slow start, but picked up after halftime and beat MS ST 35-13, with Arch Manning getting his second start of the season.  In the middle of that game, Cody and Brennan stopped by for a visit on their way home from Memphis.  While they were there, I had Cody go through his old DVDs and take the ones he wanted.  Out of the entire stack of about 20, he took two.  Mainly because he wanted to upgrade those movies to 4K HD or whatever it was he said.  He wanted upgrades of the ones he didn't take, I mean.  The two he took didn't have upgrades, I guess.  

In the middle of the stack, I found this piece of ancient history.

Remember these-- when you had to put the disc into your PS3 to stream from Netflix?  

Those were the days...

Shine On

Shine on Harvest Super Moon, up in the sky!

It's been a tradition since my childhood that we go out and watch the Harvest Moon rise.  I don't know how or why it started, but it's something we always did with my dad.  It's a tradition I've tried to keep up with, but I almost missed it last night.  After all that yardwork, and a hot shower, I was settled in to my chair knitting and watching Land Of The Lost on Tubi.  

I just happened to glance over at the clock and shout to myself, "Oh!  It's time!"  

I'd debated on whether to drive out to the lake again, but decided against it this year, since it was in the middle of the week.  Harvest Moon or not, I still had to get up at 3:30 AM, so I watched it from home.  Just long enough for the moon to clear the trees, then I came inside and had my traditional mug of hot chocolate. 

Even though it was still 90° outside and the air conditioner was running, it's tradition.  

This afternoon, I got one of my chores knocked off the list.  Yep, I took the Incarnation of Evil in to the vet for her annual vaccinations.   I'd booked her appointment for 4:00 PM, but when Group Leader Shark told us we could leave at 2:00, I called the vet and asked if I could bring her in early.  They said I could, so we went right after work.  Wednesdays must be a slow day, because there was only one other person in there.  

The office has a new vet who has joined them, and I'm not sure I like him.  I mean, he gave the cat her shots, but didn't really do a checkup or anything.  He didn't even bring her record into the exam room with him.  I think next time she has to go, I'll request one of the other vets.  

This segues nicely into today's meme debunkeration topic.  Unfortunately, I couldn't find the meme I wanted to debunk.  I've seen it all over FB, but wouldn't you know it, when I want it, it's nowhere to be found.   Anyway, the meme states that mRNA vaccines for animals were banned 50 years ago.  This one is easily debunked, because the technology didn't even exist 50 years ago.  Ten seconds worth of research would have shown you that... 

In other news, I'm about to have an explosion of spider lilies in my back yard. 

 I have a bunch up in the newly fenced in area that I want to move, but I don't know what I'm going to do with them.  Maybe I'll plant them alongside the fence so that the line of lilies goes all the way up to the front.  

I also want to find something to do with this rock. 

 

I knew it was out there, because I'd seen it out by the fence with just a little bit of it showing.  The fence guy dug it up when he put my new fence in, but I had no idea it was this big.  I think it's cool looking and want to use it as a design element somewhere.  I just don't know where yet. 

I'm thinking of making some sort of little rock garden in the corner and using this as a focal point.  I'll have to look up some ideas on Pinterest and see what I can come up with.   And as always, I'll take you on that journey with me. 

But for now, the only journey I want to take is to bed.  To sleep.  Perchance to dream....

Laters....

One Weekend

 One of these weekends, it will be sunny and not too hot and I will be able to get out and do all the things I'd planned on doing on my weekends off.  This was not that weekend, and today was not that day, either.  Yes, it has rained off and on all day.  I mean, not that I had planned on doing much today anyway, it being a Sunday and all, but still.  

On a completely unrelated note, I ordered $100 worth of coffee from Amazon this morning.  I'll tell you about it when it gets here.  

So, what did I do on this dreary rainy day?  Weekend?  I knit.  

I had finished the last hat I was working on -- which I already showed you -- and felt like I needed a break from hats, so I picked this scarf back up and added a few more inches to it. 

I worked on it for a bit, then I needed something more mindless for the football games, so I cast on... another hat.  

At this point, I can pretty much do them with my eyes closed.  Or on the TV screen.  Whatever. 

On another completely unrelated note, I finished reading Black Gold, and am now reading Stormy: Misty's Foal.  

OK, moving on...

If you've been on social media at all, no doubt you've seen this meme. 

While technically it's true--ish-- what most people don't seem to want to think about is, with the cup of melon on the right, you're not just paying for the fruit.  You're also paying for someone to peel and cut it up for you.  If you go buy a whole watermelon, a whole honeydew, a whole cantaloupe, and a whole mango and cut it up yourself, you're going to get a whole lot more fruit for the same amount of money.  

But what about the fries, you ask?  Doesn't someone have to peel and cut them, too?  Nope.  That process is almost completely automated.  There are YouTube videos that show how it's done, if you're interested enough to go look one up.  The point is, it can be done with minimal manpower, unlike cutting melons.  

BTW, I've come up with a new term for those people who mindlessly believe these memes without so much as a single critical thought about them, much less researching them.  Meme Sheep.  

Don't be a Meme Sheep.  Think about these things before you repost them.  The creators of these mems aren't interested in sharing accurate information.  They're going to post what gets them the most likes and shares to boost their page stats.  

Abrupt change of subject.  This is the post that got removed from both Instagram and Threads, because it supposedly incites violence.  

It's very threatening, isn't it. It's still up on Facebook, but I expect that will change soon enough, even though I changed knock to bop.  It's stuff like that why I don't use Meta much any more. 

On yet another completely unrelated note, I love those Devante Adams Taco Bell commercials.  

And finally, about a year ago, I'd bought one of those light traps for bugs.  You know, like the Zevo, only the ones I got were a different brand.  I've had it in the kitchen and it works pretty well, so I decided to get one for my bedroom. 

Bad move.  It doesn't seem like they put out that much light until you're trying to go to sleep.  I had to take it out and move it to another room.  First, I tried putting it into my bathroom, but that wasn't much better.  Now, it's in the living room, and that's where it will stay.  

I guess that's it for today.  There is a new season of Halloween Baking Championship I need to start watching. 

Laters...

Downtown Jubilee

This morning was my town's annual Downtown Jubilee, and as always, I got up and went.  It seems to me it's really fallen off these last few years -- maybe because they no longer have the car show.  I don't know why they stopped, but they did.  That was one of my favorite parts, and I'm not even a classic car person.  It's still cool to see all of them.  Still, they had the vendor booths, and food trucks, and bouncy stuff for the kids, and several entertainers up there singing.  

I walked around a bit and looked at all the little craft booths, but nothing jumped out at me as something I just had to have, so I didn't buy anything.  The Adult Education center was handing out free books, as they usually do, and let me pick whichever one I wanted.  I got Charlie And The Chocolate Factory in hard copy. 

I only stayed an hour, then came home and got inside my air conditioning.  It wasn't that hot, but the humidity was so high I could feel my hair curling.  I did manage to walk one of the Pokémon Go routes down there and earned a new route badge, but the routes around the Square are kind of weird.  I may walk it a few more times to get the badges, but mostly, I'll stick with the ones down by the lake. 

As I said, I didn't stay long, and made it home in plenty of time to watch football.  LSU got really lucky today.  If South Carolina's quarterback hadn't been knocked out of the game, they wouldn't have won.  I've said it before, and I'll say it again, Brian Kelly is not the coach LSU needs -- especially after the hissy fit he pitched when they lost to USC.  

While I was watching the game, I asked Meta AI to create an image for LSU Tigers, and this is what they gave me:  

I sent it to Cody, and he said, "I see no inaccuracies."  

And now for today's meme debunkeration.  I've seen this -- or something very similar -- going around social media for a while now.  

And while it's true that taxes have gone up, prices have gone up (wages have gone up, too, but nobody wants to mention that), and inflation is out of control, the fact of the matter is that we had a much, much lower standard of living back then, too.  In those days, a three bedroom one bath 1200-1500 square foot house, and not just for a starter home.  Those were the forever homes people bought to live in the rest of their lives.  

These days, young people would turn up their noses at a house like that.  "I'm not going to live in a shack!" they pout, and so they buy the five bedroom four bath 2500-3000 square foot house with a game room, man cave, swimming pool and "space to entertain", then struggle to pay the mortgage -- not to mention how much more it costs to heat and cool such a house.  In the days when a HS diploma could support a family of five, they didn't even have air conditioning.  

And they didn't have cable TV, or internet, or a cell phones for each member of the family, or three or four cars-- each requiring gas, maintenance, and insurance -- or multiple gaming systems, each with its own subscription price.  And they didn't eat out or order in nearly every day, either.  Eating out was a rare treat.  Normally, Mom cooked, and if she was like my mom, she used a lot of rice in what she prepared.  

Seriously, I was grown before I realized that chili isn't normally served over rice.    BTW, at the risk of stirring up an old controversy, beans were added to chili to stretch the meal as well. 

Then you ate leftovers until they were gone.  Our parents and grandparents didn't waste food the way we do today.  

So yeah, they could live comfortably, but they had a vastly different definition of what was comfortable than we do today.  And you know what?  I'll bet if you find people willing to go back to that standard of living, they could survive on one salary, too.  

And finally, I almost got my Fall decorations out this afternoon, but got lazy and didn't do it.  Maybe next weekend...when astronomical autumn starts...

Now, if you'll excuse me, the Texas ball game is about to start and I must go...

Laters...

And Hook 'Em. 

Friday

"I'm already exhausted, and the day hasn't even started yet!" I said to the cat just before leaving for work. 

Along about 8:00, I discovered just how exhausted I'd been when I realized I left everything at home -- and by everything, I mean my driver's license, debit card, money, pocket knife, lip balm, and everything else I usually keep in my pockets, including the little stack of quarters I like to jingle just like my daddy did. 

I briefly thought about going into Walmart and doing my weekly shopping anyway and seeing if I could figure out how to pay by scanning the QR code, but quickly decided against that.  I didn't want to be in the checkout line with a buggy full of stuff, a line of grumpy customers behind me, and no back up way to pay as I tried to figure out new technology.  

I'm a Boom -A-Ludd, remember.  

I said to myself, "I'll just run by the house and pick up my stuff, then go to the store," even though I knew this was a dangerous proposition.  The danger lies in the fact that once I get home, I won't want to leave the house again-- which is exactly what happened.  

"Eh," I said, "There's nothing I need that can't wait until tomorrow."  

So, here I sit, watching Shark Week instead of doing my shopping.  By the way, I had an idea while I was standing there at work about what to do with my jalapeño peppers, so I snuck out a quick text to Cody, "Can you pickle jalapeño peppers?"  

He replied in the affirmative, so I think I'm going to pick up a few to supplement the ones I've grown and will try that.   

On a similar note, I thing I'm going to start fermenting my tabasco peppers this weekend in preparation for making sauce, and my cayenne are starting to ripen.  

The plan with them all along has been to string and dry them, so I guess I'd better dig out a needle and some thread.

As I was walking around my back yard checking on my growing things, I discovered that something had decided to help itself to one of my sunflowers. 

I'd planned on giving it a few more days so the rest of the seeds could develop, but after seeing the carnage, I figured I'd better cut my losses and thus I cut the flower.  I'll let it dry overnight and harvest the rest of the seeds tomorrow.  Now I'm thinking I'd better put the cheesecloth back onto the flowers in the front yard so something doesn't get them as well. 

I'll try to get that done tomorrow after work.

Speaking of work, you know that one line that has been getting off at 1:00 all week long?  Well, today they had to stay until 3:00, oh, and they did get their numbers*, but I'm sure that's just a coincidence, right?  

And finally, for today's meme debunkeration, hurricanes tend to generally follow the same track across the U.S., depending on what point along the Gulf Coast they make landfall.  It has more to do with pressure systems and weather patterns and has absolutely nothing to do with the eclipse.   

Seriously, go check out the tracks from hurricanes during years there wasn't an eclipse, and you'll see what I mean. 

Sorry all you conspiracy theorists, but you're really really reaching with this one. 

* "get their numbers" is plant vernacular for meeting their production quota.