Here We Go Again

Well, another acquaintance of mine is in the hospital with COVID.  

In the interest of full disclosure, I don't know her all that well, but I do know her.  Her family goes to my church, and I served on the library committee with her mom for a couple of years.  Her older brother worked out at the plant with me for a while, a long time ago.  He's a truck driver now.  Her other brother was the one who took Cody under his wing, and mentored him back when he thought he wanted to go into the ministry.  

A few days ago, her older brother posted requesting prayers for her, because she had contracted the virus.  She already has severe asthma and other breathing problems.  Her oxygen levels were dropping, and if they got any worse, they were going to admit her to the hospital.  Last night, he posted again.  They've admitted her to the hospital down in Jackson.  There are no beds available, so she has to stay in the ER until one opens up.  

According to state health officer Dr Thomas Dobbs, there are no beds anywhere.  The 12 largest hospitals in the state have zero ICU beds.   We've been averaging 2000+ new cases diagnosed every day here lately.  To make matters worse, richer states are coming here and headhunting our nurses.  He was on the press conference last week begging them not to go.  Unless you think he's lying because you saw a meme on Facebook.  

We've had several new cases diagnosed out at the plant this week.  I know our case count has to be over 150 by now.  I don't know for sure, because they don't tell us.  We only find out by second hand plant gossip.  As in, "Where is So-and-So?"  "Oh, she's in quarantine, because the person who works beside her has the COVID."  That kind of thing.

Buckle up, folks, it's going to be rough these next few weeks.  So, let's talk about something more pleasant, shall we?

My new Christmas tree has LED lights on it.  They shine in both white and multi-colored -- but not at the same time.  And they have multiple blinking patterns, including alternating between white and multi-colored.  Anyway, this morning, I decided to go with all white lights.  

I probably won't do this very often, as I prefer multi-colored lights, but it made a nice change.  I really did want white lights on my mantle, so when I was at the store this morning, I picked up a string.  It really brightens that corner up.

Look!  I got a Christmas card!  This one from my friend Amy.  I do so enjoy receiving them.  

For the last few years, I've had this arrangement in my living room.  

Just the other day, I was thinking I'd someday like to light those candles.  But as they're real wax candles, once you burn them, they're gone.  It was then I got the bright idea to get some fake LED candles.  As it happens, I got the last two they had in the store today.  

These, I can both burn -- so to speak-- and keep year after year.  It's like having your cake and eating it, too.  

Speaking of eating...

My friend who lives in Wisconsin has managed to tame a wild porcupine.  It comes into their house, and eats from their hands.  It even scratches on the door when it wants in.  They've named it Porky.  Way cool.  

Meanwhile, I've been feeding Templeton, but haven't seen him (or her) since the day I caught him in the trap.  I know he's eating, because the food always disappears.  After seeing my friend posting porcupine videos, I started calling Templeton's name when I put the food down.  Hopefully, he'll learn to associate the sound of my voice with food appearing, and will start coming out.  Rats are very intelligent, so maybe I can sort of tame this one. 

Call me crazy, but what with winter coming on, I figured he needed a more well rounded diet than just deer corn and bird seed, so I bought him some rat food. 

I may be getting a little carried away with this whole rat mom thing.  

And finally,  I got a new hat last month, but kept forgetting to show it to you.   

I have tons of hats, but not a Navy one.  Being a Navy vet, I needed a Navy hat.  Really, I did.

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

Word Of The Day

 Your word of the day is schadenfreude.  And what is schadenfreude, you ask?  I'll tell you.

You know that feeling you get when someone from B shift brazes an entire order wrong, so the supervisor brings it back up to the sub brazing area, and your Stalker -- because he thinks he's someone special -- sticks his big nose right up in the middle of something that isn't his business, so Group Leader Shark makes him re-do all the headers by himself and the whole department is standing there laughing at him?  

That's schadenfreude.  

All righty, then.  Moving right along.  

Well, this is it.  This is why I'm being so stingy with my firewood.

That's all there is.  Well, I do have this, but it's not split. 

I'm trying to get out and split a piece or two after work every day-- because a piece or two is about all I can handle in one day -- but it still isn't going to be very much.  I've been checking the online sales groups, but either they don't want to deliver, or won't take a check, so I haven't even been able to buy any firewood.  I'm kind of regretting buying that hatchback.  If I'd gotten a pickup truck instead, I could go get me some wood.  Well, maybe I'll find someone who'll deliver without charging me an arm and a leg.    If not, I'll be huddling under blankets a lot this winter.  

In Knitting Knews, I'm making progress on my sock, albeit slowly. 

I've finally gotten past the gusset decreases, so it should work up a bit quicker now. 

So, I was looking at the photos I'd posted of my Christmas decorations, and thinking how tacky my house looks, especially my kitchen and dining room area.  A fresh coat of paint would really brighten things up, but that would require a lot of work, and I'm just not sure I'm up for it.   The walls in the dining area have this weird sort of texture stuff, like they'd thrown a bunch of tiny pebbles against the walls, and wherever they stuck is where they stayed.  I'd have to scrape all of that off.  Then there is all the thick, rubbery paint I'd have to somehow get off of the walls.  If it were regular, normal paint, I'd just paint over it, but not this stuff.  It's like a layer of plastic on the walls.  And I'd have to strip the cabinets and door frames...the baseboards and chair rail...

After all that, I'm wondering if it's not just quicker and easier to just pull everything off to the studs and replace it.  And of course, that would require finding a contractor who will actually show up...therein lies the rub.  Heck, I'm still waiting on someone to SHOW UP and hang my shutters.  

I know this post is a bit short, but I didn't sleep well last night, and I'm too tired to think straight.  I still need to practice my piano, as well, so I'll just leave you with a photo of the Beaver Moon I took Monday night. 

And bid you goodnight. 

Dear Coworker

 If your poop comes out of your backside smelling like something that has been dead for three days, something is seriously wrong with you.  

Do yourself -- and the rest of us as well -- a favor and go to the doctor!  Then get some vegetables into your diet.  Please.

Thank you.

That is all. 

Guitarless

 I am officially without a guitar.  

When Cody was here for Thanksgiving, he asked if he could take my old guitar with him.  He's wanting to branch out into playing country music, and needed an acoustic for that.  Don't worry, he says he's going to play the more traditional style, not this country rock crap that's been coming out lately. 

Anyway, he asked if he could have mine, and to be honest, I struggled a bit with that decision.  I still have the desire to learn to play the guitar, but I just don't have the passion for it that I thought I did.  The piano is where my heart is, so in the end, I said the old guitar needed to be making music instead of sitting in the corner gathering dust.  And Cody can actually play.  Funny, though, now that it's gone, I'm going through just a bit of mourning.  It's more the dream than the instrument, but I have to be realistic.  I've tried three times to learn to play the thing, and it just wasn't happening.  

Maybe someday, I'll pick that old violin of his up and start fiddling around with it again.  No pun intended...

It has rained all day long today, which we desperately needed.  I haven't checked my rain gauge, so I don't know exactly how much has fallen, but it started shortly after I got up, and hasn't stopped since.    It was a good day to stay inside and watch Christmas shows.  And knit.  Only I haven't taken a picture of my sock, so I can't show you.  I can tell you I've turned the heel and am doing the gusset decreases -- my least favorite part of sock knitting.  

I also finished putting out my Christmas decorations, so I'm fixing to bombard you with photos again.  Bear with me.  It's the only way I'll know how to do it next year.  Ready?  OK, here we go...

The...thing...above my fireplace.  For the life of me, I can't figure out why they would put this...whatever it is...here.  I put that little nativity and the lanterns there.  Those lanterns are new, by the way.  The old ones I had had rusted through, so I replaced them.  I may do away with the holders next year, and just set the lanterns down in the space. 

The door between my kitchen and living room.  I've been wanting to replace this with lighted garland.  I just haven't done it yet. 

And the other side, going to from the living room to the kitchen.  Kindly ignore the mess on my cabinets.  It's been cleaned up since.  

I'm really pleased with the way this turned out. Beverly gave me all of this garland when they moved, but this is the first year I've put it out.  It's the first year I've had a mantle.  I want to get a string of white lights to run along there, too.  I think that'll brighten it up right nicely.    

The bells over this nativity are new.  I needed something to hang in that big empty spot.  I bought the silver ones, because that corner is kind of dark, and I thought they'd brighten it up a bit, but now I'm kind of wishing I'd gotten the gold bells.  Oh well...

I made those stockings when I was a kid.  They were those pre-printed fabric things, and when I saw them in the craft section of the local KMart,  I wanted them so badly I worried my mother until she bought them for me.  Then, when I'd sewn them up, I gave them to my Mammaw as a Christmas gift.  I got them back after she died, and have hung them up ever since. 

I found an extra bow, so I stuck it onto the corned of my It Is Well sign.  It's just what it needed.

And I just stuck a few Christmassy knick-knacks on the tops of these bookshelves. 

This stand thing belonged to my Mammaw.  I guess nobody else wanted it.  It's a good place for all these little bits and bobs. 

The bottom of my entertainment center:

And a star I hung behind the tree.  

And this snowman star I think was a gift from my sister in law.  I don't mean to sound ungrateful, but it's been so long...

My front door wreath.

And my car port doors.

A Christmas candle with a little mouse that I made at least 20 years ago.

Santa and a couple of elves, which I also made at least 20 years ago. 

And finally, the tree, in all her glory.

That's about it for this year.  I keep saying one day my house will look like a Hallmark movie set, but this is not that year.  When I'd finished putting everything out that I'm going to put out, I had a bunch of stuff left over that I knew I'd probably never use.  I advertised it in the local freebies group, and a couple came and picked it up this afternoon.

They messaged me that they were coming, and I replied that I'd put the decorations in a box in the carport for them.  When they got here, the dude walked right past this huge honking box of stuff and rang the doorbell.  

Sigh...What's wrong with people?  

I Got So Excited, I Forgot

Those of you who've been following my blog for a while already know I've rediscovered the allure of vinyl.  I'm always on the lookout for new records, and old records on ebay.  I was perusing the Walmart website, when I found a new Christmas record by one of my favorite bands.  It arrived a few days ago, and I got so excited that I pulled it out of the box, then ran and added it to my record collection and completely forgot to tell you about it.  So, here I am to tell you about it now.

Look!  I got a new record!  

I'd been looking at it on the Walmart website for a while, but had decided to see if I could find it at the local store before ordering it.  Alas, after looking through all the vinyl they had, it was nowhere to be found, so I broke down and ordered it.  I'm not sure what was going on the day it arrived, but just yesterday, I was playing it as I put out some of my Christmas decorations and realized I'd never told you about it.  So, I just did.

There, that is a thing you now know.   

Another thing I neglected to tell you about was, when Cody was here for Thanksgiving, I had him install a new door knob and deadbolt on my French Doors. 

The old knob was weird in that you could only turn the handle counterclockwise.  If you tried to turn it clockwise, it wouldn't move.  I'd gotten used to it, but it was still a bit annoying.  And funny watching Cody struggle to open the door...not that I would ever laugh at my son or anything...

I'm pleading the 5th...

I'd bought a couple of new knob and deadbolt sets a while back, but had never gotten around to putting them in, so I got Cody to do it for me.  He tried to do the car port door, too, but the deadbolt didn't fit. 

The knob fit just fine, but as you can see, the deadbolt is much farther from the edge of the door.  Cody tried and tried to jury rig it so that it would work, but he couldn't figure anything out.  We finally decided to put the old set back on, and I've put the new set aside, in hopes that one day, I'll be able to get that whole door replaced, including the framing. 

IF -- and it's a big if at that -- I can get a local contractor to actually show up...

I've spent the rest of the weekend putting away my Fall decorations and starting to put out Christmas stuff.  I apologize for bombarding you with tons of photos, but I'm such a dork, I can't remember from year to year where I put my decorations.  I have to take pictures so I'll know how to do it next year.  

OK, here we go...My entertainment center, right side.  

My Sarah Plain & Tall village. I'll also be lining up my Christmas cards on this little shelf.  

And the left side of my entertainment center:

I looked at Walmart for something to put on top of those bookshelves, but didn't really find I liked.  Well, I take that back.  They had a couple of light up villages I thought would work well, but they were a little more than I wanted to spend right now.  Maybe if I can find where I put it, I might put my Aunt Martha's ceramic light up tree on this side.  Of course, it won't light up because there isn't a plug handy right there.  

I've always wanted to put a garland or something on this sign.  For now, it's just got a little sprig of pine on it.  When I get through decorating, I'll see what I have that will look nice there, but not be overwhelming. 

My Fontanini.  Usually, I take that rooster clock down, but this year I didn't.  I might take those little lemon tree pictures down, though, and move the clock over to that nail on the right.  It might be a bit les cluttered looking if I did that. 

And finally, I had this great big blank wall over my chair, so I bought a couple of new things to hang there. 

I still haven't decided if I'm going to leave them both there.  I'm thinking I might move the Santa over to a hook beside my Christmas tree, move the poinsettia over to the right hand nail, and find something else to hang there.  I don't know.  I'm not good at decorating.  

Now, if you'll excuse me, the Iron Bowl is on, and the Egg Bowl is fixing to start.  Football is calling, and I must go...

Thanksgiving 2020

 Another Thanksgiving has come and gone.  It turned out it was just Cody and me after all, as his friends decided not to come.  I'm not sure why.  I told Cody to tell Tristan that I'd cleaned the bathroom and everything!  But it was OK.  I enjoyed spending the day with my son.

I think I finally got this turkey cooking thing down.  I dry brined it with salt, baking powder, and Chupacabra rub for about 36 hours, then slow cooked it at 250'.  It turned out so delicious, and tender!  There was one drawback, though.  I couldn't get a good photo of the turkey, because when I pulled the lid off the roaster, the whole thing had absolutely fallen off the bones. 

Cody had to take it out and put it onto the platter in pieces.  This was the first time I'd ever dry brined a bird, but it won't be the last, I can tell you that.  It was the best turkey I've ever made. 

Here we have the ubiquitous photo of Cody with the food. 

And here he is, carving the turkey. 

I guess my little man really is all grown up now.   Grown up enough to hang the outside lights without even needing a ladder. 

 

After putting those up, next we put up the tree.  Normally, I don't put my tree up until the day after Thanksgiving, but Cody has been missing out the last few years, having to work on Fridays, so we did it today.  

  

Back when I was a kid, my dad would always buy us a new ornament every year.  It's a tradition I've tried to keep up since I've been grown.  Most of the time, I find something pretty, or that I just like, but this year...

This year, I thought this one was appropriate. 

I'm thinking about getting a red sharpie and writing 2020 on there somewhere.  As if anyone could ever forget.  Anyway, the tree is done. 

I'll get the rest of my Christmas stuff out tomorrow and Saturday.  

That was our Thanksgiving.  Cody is back in Memphis now, loaded down with leftovers, and I'm watching cheesy Hallmark movies on TV.  

I hope you all had a very Happy Thanksgiving as well. 

Guarding His Legacy

Since I am now a Legacy Guardian, I figured I needed to know his story.  The story of Adam Cajiuat Posadas.  The name I wear on my left wrist.  When people ask, "Who is he?", I need to be able to tell them.  So, I ordered the book in which his story is told. 

I haven't read it yet.  I'll need to be mentally prepared to go through this first, but I read the first line of his chapter, which was as far as I could get. 

It reads, "When I was young, I spent ten months in an Iraqi prison."  

I'm sure it won't be easy, but as his Legacy Guardian, it is my solemn duty to make sure his story is not forgotten.  

So, the book arrived today, and when I pulled the envelope out of my mailbox, I thought, "Dang, I didn't realize the book was that thick."  But when I opened the envelope, I found a nice surprise.  The seller had included a second book.

At first, I thought it was a mistake.  I was going to contact the seller and try to return the book, but I happened to open the cover and glance inside...where I saw this:

All right, then.  I'm not sure why.  Maybe it's one they can't sell and are just trying to unload them, or something, but I'm not going to complain.  Two things I'll never turn down -- free food, and free books. 

I found out who at work has the COVID.  She's not in my department, but is close friends with the two who were sent into quarantine.  Of course, I can't tell you who she is.  Most of you wouldn't know her anyway, so why violate her privacy?  Some of us were talking about it this morning.  Our case count just within the plant has got to be well over 100 by now.  Some say it's even higher, but I don't know.  As I said, they don't tell us any more.  Oh, but the last girl from my department who had the virus was back at work today, so that's good.  

By the way, I took my phone out of its case.  It seems so much smaller now.  Not that that means anything.  I just thought I'd throw it out there. 

And finally, I've figured out through a lot of trial and error that if I don't bend over, but rather kind of squat, then bend over, it takes a lot of strain off of whatever it is I strained in my hip.  I'm hoping if I am careful and move really slowly, this thing can heal, and I can avoid a big medical bill.

Now, Cody is coming down tomorrow after work, and I'll have quite a bit of cooking to do, so if I don't blog before Thanksgiving, you all have a very happy one, and I'll see you Friday. 

Alrighty, Then...

 I thought I was going to have a quiet Thanksgiving all to myself, but not so fast.  Cody messaged me this morning, and said he would have all day Thursday off, so he's coming down Wednesday after work and is going to spend the night.  Yippee!

Then, just a few minutes ago, he messaged again and asked if he could bring his roommate and another friend, since they have no one to spend the holiday with.  I told him that was OK as long as I didn't have to clean the house.  Cody replied that they wouldn't care, so I guess I'm going to have a house full.  One good thing about that is many hands make light work.  We ought to be able to get the tree up pretty quickly with all those folks.  I'm definitely going to make them put up the outside lights for me.  I'm getting too old to be climbing that ladder.  

At least we're going to have plenty of food.  Between my free Thanksgiving dinner from Ibotta, the turkey they gave us at work, and the box of vegetables left outside my door a few weeks back, I only had to buy a few things -- like the fresh cranberries, for instance.  I've already got my pumpkin pie and sweet potato pie done, and I'm going to start my jello salad tomorrow, since it needs time for each layer to set.  Then Wednesday, I'll make the cranberry sauce, and put together the broccoli, cheese, and rice casserole...And here I am rambling about food...

OK, moving right along...

I'm making slow, but steady progress on sock #2.  

Only one more pattern repeat, and I'll be ready to knit the heel flap.  It's been so long since I've turned a heel, I'm going to have to look it up.  Next pair of socks, though, will have a simpler pattern.  Oh, this one isn't difficult, but I have to keep track of which row I'm on.  I'd rather have something more mindless for a while. 

Well, apparently we've had another case of COVID in the department.  The only reason I know is because I overheard two brazers tell someone, "They're quarantining us."  Back when it all started, they told us when we'd potentially been exposed.  Not so any more.  Now, the only way we find out is second hand gossip.  

The bad news is, whatever I did to my hip on Friday, I did again this afternoon getting a pie plate out of my dishwasher -- which doesn't work, by the way.  I use it as a very large dish rack.  The better news is, I stretched things out as best I could, and it seems a bit better.  If this keeps up, I might have to go to the doctor about it. 

I hope it doesn't come to that.  I can't afford a major medical bill right now. 

  

It's Beginning To Look

 It's beginning to look...well, a little like Christmas. 

Because I did whatever it was I did to my hip yesterday, I decided this would be a good day to take it easy for a while.  It was hurting pretty badly when I went to bed, and every time I turned over, it was excruciating.  It didn't hurt when I was laying still, but if I tried to roll over...hoh, boy!  Needless to say, I didn't sleep very well.  

After icing it down a couple of times, and basically just sitting around all day, it feels much better this evening, even though it's still pretty sore.  But what does all this have to do with Christmas?  Not much, actually.  But this does...

And so does this:  

Those gifts are for Cody, and they're the only shopping I've done so far.  One of them arrived by FedEx late yesterday evening.  I opened the package, what I saw inside was pink and fuzzy.  Wait, that's not what I ordered!  

I'll admit my first thought was that someone had sent me a gift, but when I checked the shipping label...nope.  It wasn't my package.  No worries, the address was just up the way a piece.  I'd just drive it down to her and apologize for opening it.  About the time I got into my kitchen to head out the door, I saw the FedEx van pull back into my driveway.  He'd discovered his mistake and came back to bring me the correct package.   I apologized for opening the one I'd gotten first, he said "It's OK", we swapped envelopes, and I didn't have to leave the house after all.  I guess all's well that ends well, huh?  

The rest of the day was spent watching football and making fruitcakes, using my Dad's recipe. 

When I was growing up, we always made our fruitcakes the day after Thanksgiving.  Because you have to let them ripen for at least two weeks, once I was grown, I started making them the weekend after my birthday.  Which was last weekend, but as I'd mentioned ...um...last weekend, Walmart was out of fruitcake mix.  However, I found some yesterday, and the show went on after all. 

I decided to do mini loaves this time, because as I said yesterday, I'm the only one who really likes them.  The recipe actually made nine, but I'd already started wrapping them up when I thought, "Gee, I ought to take a picture before I get all of these wrapped and put away."  I wasn't about to unwrap the ones I'd already done -- they all look alike anyway --so you only get a photo of six of them.  

Anyway, they're all safely wrapped and tucked away under the cabinet.  Once they ripen, I'll vacuum seal and freeze most of them.  I ought to be set for a few years. 

Now, if you will excuse me, Bedlam is fixing to start, so I'll just leave you with this photo of the first quarter moon, taken about an hour ago.  

Goodnight!