Thursday Miscellany

 1.  I'd planned on going out to the lake this evening and watching the moon rise over the water, but I didn't make it.  I was letting the cat out, and thought, "Hmmm, I wonder what time moon rise is..."  Then I glanced over and saw it peeking out from behind a tree.  Um, oops.  But I did get out and take a photo anyway.  

Then I took a picture of Jupiter and a few of its moons. 

2.  This is my friend Peggy. 

I took that picture when I went to Missouri in 2017 to watch the solar eclipse with Peggy and her husband Ed.  

By the way, if you ever get a chance to see a total eclipse, you need to take that chance.  There is one coming up in 2024.  Do whatever it takes to get yourself into the path of totality.  Not the path of 99%-ity.  The path of  To. Tal. It. y.  Trust me on this one.   

But this story isn't about that.

This morning Peggy told me a funny story.  See, she's recently had knee surgery and can't really put any weight on that leg, so she uses a wheelchair to get around her house.  It's just easier that way.   Last night, she was wheeling herself down the hall ...well, I'll just let her tell it: 

I was rolling down the hall in my wheelchair a little before 9 last night. Ed was sitting in the living room and said, "You made the house shake just now". I said, "Nope, must have been an earthquake".

Lo and behold, when we turned on the local news, their lead story was about the earthquake just before 9. I didn't feel it, since I was rolling in my wheelchair, but Ed did.

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Yep, there was an earthquake about 60 miles from where they live, and word is, you could feel it as far South as north Mississippi.  I asked Cody if he felt it, but he said no.  A lot of people up there were talking about it, but he didn't feel anything himself.  

Now, you may think this is an odd location for an earth quake, but it is right along the New Madrid Fault line -- which they say is even more volatile than the San Andreas fault. 

3.  Early Monday morning, I got to work and noticed that the guy who brazes our tap fittings wasn't there.  "Hmmm," I thought to myself.  "Roger"  -that's his name, Roger --"isn't here.  I guess I'll fill the flux pots."  Not that that's any big deal, but Roger usually does it.  I filled the flux pots and went on about my day.  Most of the day passed uneventfully, except for the line sending back an entire order that had been messed up by someone on a different shift.  

Along about 45 minutes before quitting time, Roger came around to pick up the scrap copper to take to the scrap dock for recycling.  That's another thing he takes care of.  I got my box of scrap and poured it into his box.  "There you go, Rog."  I said.  "All right," he said.      It's the same conversation we have every single day when he picks up the scrap.  No big deal.  He finished collecting the scrap and wheeled the buggy towards the scrap dock. 

About five minutes later, it hits me.  "Wait," I said, turning to my coworker, "When did Roger get here?"  

She looked as confused as I felt, and replied, "When did Roger get here?"  And we both dissolved into paroxysms of hysterical laughter.  I guess you had to be there. 

As it happens, Roger had jury duty that morning, and came to work shortly after 12:00.  I guess he didn't know they'd changed the company policy.  Back in the day, you had to report to work when they released you, now matter what time it was.  A few years ago, they changed the policy so that if they kept you past 4 hours into the normal shift, you didn't have to come in

4,  One day, I'd like to have a really nice telescope, strong enough to see the rings of Saturn and the Great Red Spot on Jupiter.  Oh, and one of those smart tripods where you just program in what you want to see, and it finds it for you.  But those are some high dollar telescopes, and I could never afford one. 

5.  I cast on a new hat last night, from a pattern I'd printed out several weeks ago and had forgotten about.  I don't have a picture, because two rounds in, I found a pretty serious mistake and had to rip it all out.  As soon as I'm done here, I'm going to cast it on again.  Maybe by tomorrow, you'll have a picture.  

6.  I finished my first Michael Aaron piano book this week.  I'm still practicing up those last few songs, but I'm at the end of the book.  I want to spend the next month just playing Christmas songs for fun, but if you're going to get a Christmas concert this year, I'll need to get serious about learning at least a few of them.  

7.  My computer mouse is messing up.  I think I've dropped it a few too many times. 

8.  That's about it for tonight.  Have a great Thursday, everyone. 

Small Victories

Those of you who know me know I'm an introvert.  

Those of you who don't know me, I'm an introvert.  

As is typical of most introverts, phone calls are difficult for me.  It's been this way for my entire life.  The greatest invention ever in the mind of an inny -- as we refer to ourselves -- is the technology which makes texting possible.  However, some things can't be texted.  Certain business calls, for example. 

I've been needing to call a plumber for quite a while now.  I've also been needing to call the washing machine repairman.  And an oral surgeon.  And the eye doctor.  But I want to go ahead and get this sink unclogged before Thanksgiving, if I can.  What with Cody and Brennan coming and all.   

Every day at work, I tell myself when I get off, I'm going to call the plumber, and I'm going to call the washing machine repairman.  I even stand there and rehearse the phone calls -- when I'm not mentally debunking Facebook memes, that is. 

Every day when I get home, I don't. I don't call the plumber.  I don't call the washing machine repairman.  I tell myself I just need a minute to unwind before I call, then I don't call at all.  I've made progress, though.  At least I got their numbers stored in my phone now.  

Today was no exception.  I stood there at work all day long intending to call at least one of them.  But when I got home...I didn't.  I even picked up my phone and pulled up my contacts...then put the phone back down.  

Sigh...

Then I picked the phone back up and called to make an appointment for my eye checkup.  And I thought, "That's one..."  There are three more calls I need to make, but those didn't happen today. 

I will try again tomorrow.  

And finally, it's Wednesday, and that means, whiskers!  

I've got to get better at posting Whiskers On Wednesday.  I will get better at posting Whiskers On Wednesday, now that I have someone with whiskers again.  

Falling Apart

 Hmmm, I guess y'all weren't very impressed by my new gravy boat, huh?  It's highly unusual that a post doesn't get a single like or comment on FB (thought folks on other sites did comment).  Well, I was happy to get it.  The downside to buying all my Thanksgiving food early is now I want to start cooking, even though the big day is still over a week away.  Patience, grasshopper, I keep telling myself.   Patience...

My little bookmarks are starting to fall out of my piano books.  I guess the sticky notes are losing their sticky.  If that isn't a metaphor for my life, I don't know what is.  

I have some paper clips, but I don't want to wrinkle my pages.  I'm particular about that.  I like to keep my books -- even my piano books -- as pristine as possible. I don't even use the patterns in knitting books.  I copy them off and use that one as a working copy, so my books will stay nice.  I guess I'll jsut have to flip through and see what I want to play.  That's better anyway.  I won't feel like I need to limit myself to just the songs I've marked.  

Speaking of books, many years ago, I bought a young adult dystopian novel called Unwind, by Neil Schusterman.  

There are 5 books in the series -- though the fifth one is a collection of short stories, and not a part of the main dystology.  

By the way, "dystology" is not a real word, at least not according to Mirriam-Webster.  However, after a bit of research, I found that Mr. Schusterman coined the word himself specifically for this series, and the definition is the study of imaginary situations related to abnormal or dehumanized people.  

Anyway, I'd read the first two years and years ago, but had never read any further, mainly because I didn't want to pay full price for the books. (I'm a bit tight when it comes to Kindle editions) I kept waiting for them to be put on sale, or daily deal, or whatever.  It took more than a decade, but my patience finally paid off.  A week or so ago, they finally, at long last, put them on daily deal, and I snapped them up. 

Since it had been so long since I'd read the first two, I felt like I should go back and re-read them before starting the next one in the series.  It's a good thing I did, because there was an awful lot I'd forgotten.  It was good to refresh my memory a bit.  

The whole premise of the book is (and these aren't spoilers as this is all explained at the beginning of the first book), in a future USA, there has been a long and bloody second Civil War over the issue of abortion.  The war finally ends when both the pro life and pro death side agree to a compromise called the Unwind Accord.  This agreement states that abortion is no longer legal, from the moment of conception up until a child is 13 years old.  Between the ages of 13 - 18, however, a parent or legal guardian can choose to have the child retroactively aborted through the process of what is called unwinding.  

Unwinding involves dismembering the child and selling his organs and tissues to those who may need a new heart or lungs, or arms and legs, or whatever body part is deemed to be defective.  The only condition is that 99.44% of the child's parts must be transplanted into another person. They justify this by convincing themselves that the child is technically still alive, just living in "a divided state".  

I know most fiction requires some level of suspension of disbelief, but to me, this one requires a lot of it. Frankly, I can't imagine anyone on the pro life side believing that dismembering a teenager is somehow more morally acceptable than dismembering an infant in the womb.  I know I'd never agree to anything of the sort, but in this book, everyone is happy by this.  Except, of course, the children who are being dismembered.  

There are other issues I have with these books, but I won't get into them here.  Still, if you can get past all the moral and spiritual implications -- that is, suspend your disbelief enough-- the story itself is pretty good.  I think the most amazing thing about this book is that the main character is not a whiny, self absorbed 17 year old girl who knows everything and is going to singlehandedly save the world (despite having no real life world-saving experience) right after she figures out which of her two suitors she is really in love with.  

That in itself makes it worth the read.  

It's Here!

 It's here!  It's here!  My new gravy boat is here!

I've never had my own gravy boat before!  

Don't envy me my exciting life. 

What's the big deal about a gravy boat, you may ask?  Well, I'll tell you.   A week or so ago, I got all this free food from Ibotta, and one of the free items I got was a little  packet of brown gravy mix.  Another of the free items was a packet of mashed potato flakes.   

And I thought, "Free food.  Might as well eat it."  So I'm going to make mashed potatoes and brown gravy to go with our Thanksgiving meal.  In addition to the stuffing and giblet gravy, and also in addition to the sweet potato casserole.  It doesn't have to be one or the other, so we're going to have both. 

Honestly, I don't understand these families that actually fight over what to fix for holiday meals. I mean, why?  Why fight over what you're going to serve?  My philosophy is to make it all.  Let everyone who is coming bring their favorite dishes, and have a regular old smorgasbord.  Holidays are supposed to be a time for joy, not stress.  And besides, you can freeze some of the leftovers for Christmas.  

Now, that is one thing I'm weird about.  For Thanksgiving, I want all the traditional stuff -- turkey, dressing, sweet potatoes, pumpkin pie and the like, but Christmas...I'm much more flexible about what to have for Christmas dinner.  Whatever you want to have is good with me.  I've actually gotten kind of spoiled by Cody making gumbo for Christmas dinner, but he wants to make it for Thanksgiving this year, since he and Brennan are still mostly vegetarians.   Cody and I already discussed it.  I'm going to make all the traditional side dishes, most of which are vegetarian anyway, and he'd need to bring an alternate source of protein for them.  They've recently added seafood back into their diets, so he wants to make a shrimp and catfish gumbo.  I have a huge gumbo pot, so there'll be plenty enough leftovers for me to keep. 

Shh, don't tell them...I bought some sausage to put into it after they've left.  I might even put some of the leftover turkey into it, too.  And a squirrel or two, if I ever get around to going squirrel hunting, that is...

In knitting news, I got the cowl out and washed and blocked it.  

That yarn was soft even before I washed it, and it's super soft now.  One thing, though -- I was stunned at how much it bled!  The dyer must not have used a fixer.  I'm not sure what the official term for it is, but it's something that sets the dye so it doesn't run.  I usually use vinegar when I dye things, but there are other things you can use.  I don't know what this person used, but it didn't work too well.  The first bowl of wash water looked like blood when I was done because so much dye rinsed out.

Nevertheless, I finally got it washed and blocked.  Now it's safely wrapped and ready to be sent to its recipient.  

And finally, I have finished the first Schaum piano book, the red book. 

I still need to practice the pieces up a bit, but I've gone through the entire playlist on YouTube.  The one covering that book, I mean.   Honestly, I didn't enjoy it, and I'm not even sure I want to go through the blue book.  I'm enjoying both the Alfred's and the Aaron courses so much more.  I'm almost through with the Aaron Level 1 book, so I think once I'm done with it, I'll just take a break until after Christmas, then decide what to do.

And when I say "take a break"  I don't mean I'm going to stop playing the piano.  No way.  I just mean I'm going to take a break from the lesson books, and just play from my Christmas books for a while. 

I mean, that's the whole reason I'm learning to play, isn't it?  To just enjoy making music. 

In fact, I think I'll go make some music now.  

Laters. 

Y'all Would Be Proud

 Y'all would be so proud of me.  Why?  Because I did a thing today, and I am totally not a thing doer.  But today, I did a thing.  Even though I'm not a thing doer.  

And what was this thing I did?  

I left the house!  That in itself is quite an accomplishment.  

OK, here's the scoop.  I've been wanting a new washing machine for a few months now.  My old one is about ten years old, and it still works reasonably well.  It needs some repairs -- like a new belt-- but it gets the clothes clean.  Mostly.  But I've gotten it into my head that I want a front loading washer.  They're supposed to use less water, and my water bill has gotten outrageous here lately.  And these days, anything I can do to save money...  

I've been saying for weeks that I'm going to go up to Lowe's just to look at washers, but the football schedule has never cooperated. 

What?  Doesn't everybody live their lives around the football schedule?  No?  Huh...who'da thunk it. 

Anyway, this week, Navy has the bye, and LSU and Texas don't play until 6:30.  Yes, at the same time -- again.  So this morning, I got dressed and drove up to Batesville.  I didn't get a washing machine, but I was able to look at them, and kind of get a better idea of what I want.  

While I was up there, I ran into the Walmart, since theirs sometimes has stuff ours doesn't.  I'm looking for a gravy boat, but they didn't have one, either.  I ended up ordering one from Amazon.  What I did find was.....new mixing bowls!

And these have lids.  I won't have to cover what I'm mixing up with plastic wrap any more!  But wait, there's more!  Actual, real serving spoons!  

I've never had real serving spoons before!  

Don't envy me my exciting life. 

Cody has hinted that he might bring Brennan here for Thanksgiving, so I wanted to have at least the same spoons in --well, most of my dishes at least.  We're still going to eat on paper plates, though.  I know some people like to set a fancy table, but me, I'd rather spent time with my family than washing dishes.  

I'm hoping they'll stay long enough to help me with the Christmas tree, at least getting started on it.  I'm not too sure how this cat is going to react to a Christmas tree.  I don't think Mr. Clark ever put one up after Mrs. Clark passed away.  I've already said I'm not going to put any breakable ornaments on it, just to be on the safe side.  Squeaky never bothered the tree, though she did like to nap amongst the presents.  I'll have to see how the cat handles, those, too. 

Speaking of presents, I am just about done with my shopping.  My sister's family is taken care of, and I ordered my brother's family's gifts today.  My younger brother and his wife's gifts are ready.  I'll just have to get them organized and mailed. I still need to shop for Cody and Brennan, and get James a little something, then I'll be done. 

Last night, I was looking for something to knit on.   I'd put a few squares into my blanket, and needed a little variety.  In the front closet, I found this old project I'd forgotten about. 

It looks like mice got into it and tangled the yarn up.  On closer inspection, I didn't see any spots where it looks like they'd actually cut the yarn.  I spent most of this afternoon watching Cheesy Hallmark Movies and untangling yarn barf.  There is something very therapeutic about untangling yarn.  Even lace weight silk. 

Speaking of cheesy Hallmark movies, it looks like my town is trying to look like one:  

They are going to have the tree lighting on December 4.  I went last year, and it was nice, but it looks like they're going to go all out this time.  

Now, if you'll excuse me, the game has started, and I need my computer to watch one of the three games I want to see.  

Laters....

Another Inventory

Inventory has come and gone for another year, and yes, it was just as much as a mess as you might have imagined. 

It all started when I woke up this morning. 

No, wait.  It all started before I went to bed last night, when I suddenly couldn't remember if I'd double checked what time inventory was supposed to start.  I'd checked the paper, and thought I saw where it started at 7:00, and it usually starts at 7:00, but I didn't triple check to see if they'd changed the time for some unknown reason.  Why I thought they'd do that is beyond me, but you know us introverts.  We're overthinkers to the max.  

I finally said, "I'm going in at 7:00, and if I'm late, I'm just late."  But I wasn't.  Inventory actually did start at 7:00 and I was right on time.  

I didn't bother to reset my alarm before going to bed, so I woke up at the usual time for my normal shift, which gave me an extra hour before I had to go in.  It was a bit disconcerting, because I had the nagging feeling I was late.  I haven't even gotten used to going in at 6:00 instead of 5:00, and today I went in at 7:00.  I was totally discombobulated.  

While I was waiting for time to leave, I thought, hmmm, since I have this extra hour before I go in, I'll just sit and savor my coffee at home, which I did.  Not long into the work day, I was regretting that decision.  Kind of wishing I'd brought some with me.  But I didn't, so I had to muddle through without it. 

My coworkers and I got back to the sheet metal department, and as I predicted, nobody knew what was going on.  It didn't help that the parts racks were a total mess.  There were stacks of parts that didn't have a part number at all, and the ones that did have a label only had the last four digits.  Since we have to write the entire 9 digit number, that didn't help us at all.  Now, someone who actually works in sheet metal would probably know what the other 5 digits were, but we had to get someone to go look them up for us.  All of us, and I do mean all of us, were asking why they didn't just get the people who work in that area to inventory it but that would make too much sense.  If there is anything my place of employment is good at, it's figuring out what makes the most sense and doing the exact opposite. 

Then there was our chieftain, who didn't know squat.  I mean, he tried his best, and I don't blame him for not knowing squat.  He's only been working there two months, after all.  But more than once, we had to call the other team's chieftain over to answer a question.  Then there was the time he told me he was going to go get some more of the little tickets we have to fill out, only the way he said it sounded as if he were asking my permission.  Bless his heart, he was so nervous!  I don't think he's ever been in a leadership position at all.  We were supposed to have five card writers and five counters on our team.  The idea is to pair up one of each, and that way we can cover the entire department faster.  This poor fellow, he couldn't even split up the two counters who were standing there talking, and one of the supervisors had to count for me.  He shouldn't have had to do that.  It was an hour and a half into the shift before I wrote my first card.  

But we muddled through, and the long day finally ended.  

Then I came home and worked off my frustration splitting some firewood.  The stuff I bought last year had some pretty big pieces in it, and I wanted to split them into smaller pieces so they'll burn better.  It's good exercise splitting wood by hand. 

It'll come in handy this weekend.  Check out these temps: 

I need a snugglebunny for this weather!

Eh, I guess the cat will have to do. 

Three Things

 1.  On the 10th day of November, my mailbox brought to me...three packs of wax beads, two metallic markers, and a pack of Christmas washi tape.  

Admit it, you sang it...or was it just me?  Anyway, I'm about to get started on my Christmas cards over the next few weeks, so if you want a card, make sure I have your address.  I'm serious.  Even if I only know you from social media, I'll be happy to add you to my list.  

2.  November 10, 1975:   The Edmund Fitzgerald sank while crossing Lake Superior, carrying 29 souls into the icy waters with it.  We pause for a few moments to remember them.  

3.  This is going to be interesting. Inventory tomorrow at work, I mean.  Remember how I told you that they'd put several of us who normally work Tubing over into Sheet Metal?  None of us know anything about Sheet Metal.  

Not only that, they have decided they won't do card writing classes any more for those of us who fill out the little information cards.  The person who is over our team -- known as the chieftain -- is supposed to train us on how to write the cards instead.  Since I've never worked in Sheet Metal, I was depending heavily on my chieftain to keep me strait, and I'm sure the other card writers on the team were feeling the same way. 

Well, today one of the IT guys, with whom I've done inventory before, came out to the shop floor and told me the guy who is going to be our chieftain is brand new to the plant.  He's been working out there for less than two months.   He didn't even know what Sheet Metal was....Oh, boy.  The IT guy was hoping we -- meaning the card writers-- could teach him how to fill out the cards. 

I turned to one of the other card writers and said, "We're both going to end up in a ditch."  

4.  Bonus thing:

Happy Birthday, USMC

Houston, We Have A Problem

Here, I haven't even used up all the stationery I have, and what did I do?  I went and bought a new set.

I've already got a set similar to this, of antique looking paper, but this one has one thing the other set doesn't have.  Matching envelopes! 

Plus, it seems to be better paper.  The other stuff I have is kind of slick, so it's easy to smear the ink when you write on it.  This feels more like regular paper.  Now that I have a bunch of new writing paper, it looks like I'm going to have to reactivate my account on the Global Penfriends site, because I'm down to one pen pal.  All the rest have stopped writing.  

In other news, I did rip that scarf back out, and started over.  I got this far, 

and decided I didn't like the way it was knitting up either, so I've set it aside for now, and picked up the sock yarn blanket.  I'm going to take you a progress photo soon, once I've gotten a few more rows done on each.  I'll figure out what to do with the rest of the Jumbo Stripes later.  It made a nice looking hat, so I may knit a few more of those.  

Now for some good news.  We did get off at 2:00 today, but Supervisor said it would be a day to day thing, depending on how far ahead of the lines we are.   I don't like not knowing ahead of time, but it is what it is.  

I'm telling you one thing, the fog was wicked thick here this morning.  It was so thick, I couldn't even see to the end of my headlights, and had to crawl down the highway at some 40 MPH, but I finally made it safely to work.  Once I got there, I felt the need to post a caution:

I'm not saying the fog is thick out there, but if you're hiding in a lighthouse, do not go outside. 

I'm not sure how many of my friends got the reference...

Speaking of work, this is inventory week, so most of the plant will get a very long weekend.  Those of us working inventory will still get a long weekend, and even though doing inventory can be a pain in the butt, it's still a lot like getting free money.  I think the most annoying thing is having to wait so long once you're done before you can go home, but that's part of it. 

One year, we had a new production manager, and he decided we weren't going to just sit around once we were done.  We were going to clean up.  That didn't last long.  I honestly don't think he realized how very long we had to wait between finishing and getting to leave.  Maybe he thought it would be 30 minutes or so, not 6-7 hours.  Which is what it is -- or was back then.  One year, we had to stay so late, they bought us supper.  I couldn't see that happening under the current management.  

Oh, I haven't told you about our new HR director, have I?  She's a real peach, she is.  I don't even know her real name.  We just call her Karen, and it totally fits her.  She's got the attitude.  She's got the personality.  She's even got the Karen hair cut.  Seriously, were do they find these people? 

I don't see her lasting long out there, either.  None of us will miss her. 

Quiet Sunday

 After the hustle and bustle of the previous two days, today has been a quiet Sunday.  It's nice to have some down time every once in a while.  The good news is, my friend texted me yesterday and said we're back to coming in at 6:00 AM starting tomorrow.  I'm hoping we'll also be getting off at 2:00 PM instead, of 3:00, but I don't know.  It would be nice to have that extra hour in the evenings.  Not to mention an extra hour of sleep every night.   Which I probably won't get, because I'll just stay up later.  

So, what did I do while enjoying a quiet day at home?  I finished my friend's hat.

I like the way it turned out, and I think my friend will, too.  Even better, I washed and dried it, which made it soften up considerably.   I was kind of concerned, because the yarn was a bit stiff, but it turned out all right.  

Me, I'm such a doofus.  Why am I such a doofus?  Well, I'll tell you. 

I'd wanted to knit the ribbing on size 7 needles, and do the body on size 9s.  I was sure I had some size 9 circular needles around here somewhere.  I spent two days looking for them, but didn't find them.  I finally just did the body of the hat on a size 8 circular.  

I've got a considerable bit of yarn left over, and I wanted to cast on a matching scarf.  Once again, I tore up my house looking for my size 9 circs, which I was sure I had around here somewhere.  Unable to find them, I cast on a scarf on size 10.  I didn't like the way that was turning out, so I looked again for the size 9.  

That's when it hit me.  I've got some size 9 tips for my interchangeable needles.  I'd even had them in my hand while I was looking for the circs.  More than once.  

Sigh, I can't even blame sleep deprivation this time, because I slept in until nearly 6 this morning.  And got an extra hour to boot.  Be that as it may, I now have some size 9 circulars -- just the kind with interchangeable tips.  

That problem solved, I cast on the scarf, intending to make just a simple garter stitch, but I'm not liking the way it's looking. 

I know the wider scarves are back in style now, but I'm thinking about starting over and making a very long, narrow scarf.  I like those better anyway, and think the yarn will stripe better with a narrower cast on.  I just need to find a pattern...or decide whether to stick with garter stitch or not.  I'm thinking not.  

Somebody really needs to teach Red Heart how to dye self striping yarn.  

In the midst of all that, I got out my sealing wax and began making some seals for my Christmas cards. 

I make them on one of those silicone baking mats, then use glue dots to stick them to the envelopes.  I know that's technically cheating, but this way, if I mess up one, I can just melt it down and do it over.  Like that little white one on the lower left.  It'll get re-done because I don't like the way it turned out. 

I used the little wax melter Cody got me for Christmas a few years ago do to the red ones. Kindly ignore the dust on the base.  It got wiped off after the picture was taken. 

It's a handy little thing when you have a bunch of seals to do at once, and want them all in the same color, but if you're only going to do one or two, it's easier just to use the melting spoons.  I'm going to do some more seals later on, after I order some more green wax and maybe I'll even get some holiday Washi tapes, too. 

By the way, if you want a Christmas card, please send me your address.  If you got one last year, you're good, but if you're new to this blog, I'll be happy to add you to my list.  And don't feel obligated to reciprocate.  I'll still send you a card.  

I'll be happy to.  

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go figure out what I'm going to do with this scarf.  

Laters...

Yarns With Friends

 I have yarn!  

It's from a friend, which makes it all the better.  She'd contacted me on Instagram and asked if I was still working on my sock yarn blanket.  If so, she had some leftovers she wanted to send me.  Of course, I said yes!  

And let me just step out of my blog here to say that if anyone else has any leftover washable sock yarn you would like to donate to the blanket, I certainly won't turn you down, either.

OK, back to my story.  She asked if I wanted it, I said yes, and it arrived today!

The brand is Emma's Yarn, which is an indy dyer out of Florida.  I haven't looked her up, yet...hold on...

I'm back.  Here is her website:   Emma's  Yarn.  If the rest of her stuff is as gorgeous as what my friend sent me, it's worth looking in to.  These bits will be knit into the blanket soon.  

In the meantime, I have another project I've started.  See, a couple of years ago, I knit a hat for an old friend I've known since Junior High.  When she got it out the other day to start wearing it, moths had gotten to it.  She was totally bummed out about that.  She's not a knitter, so I offered her three options. 

1)  Try to find someone in the area to fix it.  I asked around and found a yarn shop not too far away from here, and passed that information on.  She may take it up there, she may not.  It's up to her. 

2) Mail the hat back to me, and I'll try to fix it.  Not my preferred option, but if that's what she wanted, it's what we'd do.

3) Toss that hat, and I'd knit her a new one.

She chose option three, so I dug out some yarn and posted pictures on her FB page.  

I told her if she didn't like any of these, I'd get some more out and see what she thought about them, but right away, she chose one of these-- and she chose the one I knew she'd choose.  When she told me which one she'd picked, I replied, "Funny thing about that Jumbo Stripes, when I saw it in the store, I thought, 'That has [her name] written all over it!'"

So, that's what I've been working on today.  

She spends a lot of time outside due to her job -- delivering groceries -- so I want to get it to her as soon as I can.  And because it's acrylic, she won't have to worry about moths getting to it.  I like the way it's knitting up, but I do wish the stripes had been a little bit wider.  I'll have plenty left over, so I think I might start a garter stitch scarf to see how that looks.  

Oooh, I wonder how it would look woven on my loom...but that would require warping it.  Hmmm, I'm not sure it's worth all that.  

Speaking of groceries, good thing I didn't want pudding this week.  

Thank you, Brandon!  

And finally, I'm sorely tempted to buy myself a new Christmas dress. 

What do you think?  

The Best Laid Plans

 You know what they say about the best laid plans of mice and men, right?  Yeah, I take these weekends off, and have all these plans... I'm going to get this done, and I'm going to get that done.  I'm going to be so industrious.  In the end, I get very little of it done.  

However, all is not lost, as I do get stuff done.  Just not the stuff I intended to get done.  For instance, I'd intended to call the plumber today.  Instead, I got another good bit of this privet cleaned out of my back fence. 

It really opens up my view back there, and of course, the ultimate goal is to get that fence replaced, so the whole fence line will need to be cleared.  I've got some weed killer I'm going to keep spraying on the stumps to keep that privet from growing back -- hopefully.  Privet is some resilient stuff. 

After working up a good sweat doing that, I came back inside and finished this hat.

I have some yarn left, and I'm debating putting a pompom on it. I'm not a big fan of pompoms, but some people like them.  Eh, maybe I will, maybe I won't.  I'll decide later. 

Well, it's that time again.  Ibotta is offering a free Thanksgiving dinner for those who have the app.  I got all this stuff absolutely free after collecting the rebate. 

FYI, you don't have to get the zero sugar Coke, and I highly recommend you don't get the zero sugar Coke.  Get one of the other varieties offered.  Seriously, that stuff is disgusting.  I'm having to doctor it up pretty good with Torani syrup to even get it down, and it still leaves an aftertaste.  The ads say you have to try it first.  Well, I did, and as far as I'm concerned, the first will be the last.  

Anyway, you can also get a bag of frozen vegetables, but I forgot them.  I'll get one next time I go into town.  I'll probably get broccoli, so I can make Cody's broccoli casserole.  Oh, that reminds me!  I have to give the recipe to my friend!  Don't let me forget, after I post this. 

Also, if someone signs up and uses your referral code (Mine is LYPNOLP), you get a whole turkey!

Even better, when I was cleaning out a space in my deep freeze for the turkey, I found a bag of sweet potato pie filling, already mixed up and ready to use.  All I have to do is thaw it, put it into a crust, bake it, and dessert is done.  Well, I'm going to make a pumpkin pie, too. And maybe even a cream cheese pie.  

I'm pretty much all set for Thanksgiving now, food wise that is. 

And lastly, I picked up another fall decoration off of the clearance shelf.  

I'll probably hang it up next year, instead of that one I accidentally bought two of. 

Random Thoughts Of A Thursday Evening

1. I'm sure you will all be pleased to know my mailbox was still firmly attached to its post when I got home this afternoon.  I'm going to count yesterday as a one-off, and hopefully, it won't happen again.  I'm sure someone must have hit it by accident.  

2.  This is my coworker.  She said she was practicing for her funeral. 

Yes, she is that crazy, but we love her.

3.  I walked around all day with a bug in my hair and nobody told me. 

OK, it was plastic, and I put it there, but nobody noticed.  Dadgum it!

4.  One of my Thanksgiving cactus has buds!  

This one is from a cutting I took from one of James' Thanksgiving cacti.  Except that it was an accident.  That I took a cutting, I mean.  I accidentally broke it off, then felt bad and rooted it.  A couple of years ago, some little rodent dug the whole thing up, and I was devastated.  I replanted it, and fortunately, it took once again, and has thrived to the point where it's almost as big as it was before.  

5.  It's going to be cold tonight.  

It might even frost, but it probably won't.  It seldom gets as cold as they say it will.  I still brought a load of firewood up to the house, and am sitting here sipping some hot chocolate with pumpkin spice marshmallows in it.  I've also got peppermint marshmallows, for when the Era of Pumpkin Spice ends, an Minter begins. 

6.  I had a whole passel of deer out behind the fence.  It's a bummer that all my little bucks seem to be spikes, though.  

7.  Speaking of deer, I've almost hit two on the way to work on two different days this week.  One was a good sized buck with a nice rack.  The other was a yearling.  

8.   I'm going to make the cat stay inside tonight.  She's not happy, but it's too cold out there for her to stay out all night. 

9.  Inventory at work is next week, and they released the list of who is working where this morning.  Well, Group Leader Shark brought it to me this morning.  Sometimes I wonder what they're thinking out there.  All the usual tubing crew will be doing inventory in sheet metal department.  We were talking about it, and every one of us was saying, "I don't know anything about sheet metal."  I guess we'll figure it out as we go. 

10.  Not only that, they're bringing people over from the hair pin building to inventory tubing.  Why not just let the people who work in tubing inventory tubing?  Because that would make to much sense.  And if anything out there makes sense, they're going to do the exact opposite. 

11.  By the way, that person way up there -- the one who was practicing for her funeral -- she's the one who started calling our group leader Group Leader Shark.  Now it's her official blog nickname. 

12.  I guess that's it for this edition.  See you next time. 

Winter Is Coming

 Before I begin tonight's post, I feel it is incumbent upon me to tell you that I was somewhat forcefully informed this morning by A Front Office Guy Formerly Known As The Boss Who Must Not Be Named that he is not lost.  He knows exactly where he is going...which is to get the heck off the shop floor as soon as he can.  

Frankly, I don't blame him.  He can go back up to his office...with air conditioning, and eat and drink whatever he wants, when ever he wants...while sitting down...

Oh, and he told me he works in PB&J...no, that's not right...PBR...no...PR&D...yeah, that's it...Product research and development.  All righty, then. Moving right along.

I don't normally light fires during the week.  I figure by the time the house warms up, it'll be about time to go to bed.  However, this was our high for today.

So, I decided to make an exception.  It sure did make the house feel all snug and comfy.  I'll have to lug some more wood up to the house because it's supposed to be getting down into the 30s over the next few nights.  I also took the precaution of bringing in the last of my potted plants, just in case. 

I'm not having good luck with mailboxes at all.  If you'll recall, the county broke mine off when they were working on the road, so they replaced with one of those Rubbermaid boxes.  Well, today when I got home, the box part had been taken completely off the post and thrown into my front yard.  I can't even imagine how that happened.  I mean, the box part just slides on to the post, but you would have to deliberately pull with purpose to get it off, so it couldn't have been some sort of accident.  

If it happens again, I might just have to set up a game cam to catch what is going on out there. 

I guess that's about it for tonight.  One of the piano instructors I follow on YouTube posted a video on how to learn a piece really quickly, and I want to try it.  I have an arrangement of O Holy Night, which was my dad's favorite Christmas carol, I want to try to learn.

Probably won't be in time for this year, though.  But I'll have to get you something recorded and posted, since I skipped out on last year's concert. 

I Think It's Tuesday

I think it's Tuesday.  I'm not entirely sure.

Whatever day it is, I was very relieved the cat decided to stay inside last night.  I was able to sleep soundly, knowing she was safe and warm.  I was even more relieved that she didn't yowl all night.  Of course, she's back outside now, and I'm hoping she comes up before I go to bed tonight.  It's getting to be too cold for her to stay out all night.  

There have been some big changes out at work, and not necessarily for the better -- at least as far as the brazers go.  Back at the beginning of the year, our production manager, also known as The Boss Who Must Not Be Named, moved back up into the front office.  I'm not sure what he's doing up there, but every once in a while, we see him wandering around the shop floor, looking lost...

After he left, the guy who was the production manager over the assembly area moved to the component area , and guess who they made the production manager over assembly?  Go on, guess...

If you said Brazing Boss, give yourself a cookie.  

The production manager over components quit a couple of weeks ago, so the only one left out there right now is Brazing Boss.  But that's neither here nor there...

But here's the thing, for the last 5 years, ever since he got that job, Brazing Boss has been telling us to slow down when brazing.  Don't rush.  Take our time, and braze carefully.  We'd have brazing meetings every week and he'd tell us things like

"I know it's tempting when the lines are right on you to crank that fire up and braze real fast, but you can't do that.  You have to keep brazing slowly."

He'd say, "Even if the lines are pressuring you, take your time, braze slowly.  The lines will just have to wait."

We'd try to argue with him, saying we can't do that.  We have to do whatever it takes to keep those lines moving, but he wouldn't listen.  He even told us one time, "I don't care what [Production Manager] says!  You don't listen to him, you listen to me, and I'M telling you to braze slowly!"  

Well...

Now that he's the production manager, he's singing a completely different tune.  Suddenly, he's up there trying to rush us.  Telling us we have to work harder, braze faster, do more...keep those lines running no matter what!  

As you might suppose, it's not going over well with us.  I mean, nobody liked him to begin with, and this just makes him all the more detestable to us. I was talking to Group Leader Shark, and told her, "It's the hypocrisy that gets to me.  For five years, he told us not to rush, and now all the sudden, he wants us to rush.  I ain't playing that game. "  

Honestly, I don't think he's going to last long in that position.  He's one of those spoiled little twats that only got the job because daddy pulled some strings.  He's not built to handle a high pressure job.  He won't be able to deal with the stress.  

In knitting news, after I'd finished the cowl, I picked this hat back up.  

It's a plain vanilla hat knit in Knit Picks Brava, in Just Peachy Speckle colorway.  I'm liking the way it's knitting up.  It might end up being a Christmas present, too.  

I wonder if Cody's girlfriend likes hats.  

This Cat

 

This cat, I swan.  No, I suwanee.  Which is like I swan, but only ... more.

I let her go outside before bed last night.  No biggie.  I do it all the time.  Only this morning, she didn't come up to the house like she usually does.  I called and called, but she didn't come.  A bit concerning, but she's done it before.  

I really began to get worried when I got home from work this afternoon, and she still wasn't home.  I called her a few times as I filled the bird and squirrel feeders, but she didn't come.  One hour passed, and no kitty.  Two hours --  I walked out into the woods, calling and calling.  Still no kitty. 

I came inside and posted my concern on Facebook. 

My kitty didn't come up to the house this morning, and she wasn't here when I got home from work. I've been out looking and calling, and can't find her. I'm starting to get a bit worried.

One of my friends responded, "Praying your kitty comes home." 

Not two minutes later, there she was at the back door, yowling to come inside. I let her inside, shouting, "Where have you been????", but in typical cat fashion, she ignored me and went straight to her room and began eating.

Now she is snuggled down at my feet in the recliner, napping, and I can breathe again.

Oh, by the way, after I posted last night, I went ahead and moved that plant shelf to the back door, where it usually sits.  See that cat bed on the bottom shelf?  I put that there, but she hasn't gotten into it yet. 

Then I moved the step to the front door, where she can still look out the window.  I think she'll be OK with that.  

Well, now that my heart is beating again, I need to go practice my piano.  

Laters.