So long, Eugene - December 12, 2024

The Grandson called Friday afternoon, wanting to know if he could spend the weekend with us.  He is 17.  While I love it that he wanted to come over, I suspected ulterior motives.  

He has his driver's license but does not yet have a vehicle (the truck his dad is fixing up for him is still not fixed up).  He needs a vehicle for some school activities but has not had a lot of driving experience.  The Husband and I suspected that he wanted to borrow one of our vehicles until his dad gets his truck running.

Sure enough, that's what he wanted.

You may remember that when he was 6 years old, I promised to give him my Wrangler, if I still had it when he turned 16.  I still have it.  A few years ago, I even bought myself another vehicle in order to save wear and tear on the Wrangler in anticipation of giving it to him when he came of age.  

He left here in the Wrangler today, headed to a friend's house.  In the front seat was a never-used, still-in-the-box 10-disc CD changer that I'd bought for The Husband years ago but was never installed. He and his buddy are going to replace the roached-out CD changer that came with the Wrangler when I bought it 20 years ago (it has been wet a few times over the years) and see if they can fix the radio that suddenly quit playing a couple of month ago.

Watching him drive away was tough.  He hasn't had nearly as much driving experience as he needed.  We let him drive a lot this weekend.  Teenage boy that he is, with his big size 12 feet, he "punches it" a little harder than I think he should.

Before he left, I told him, "Do not wreck the Wrangler.  I don't want either of you hurt."

When he got to his friend's house, he texted The Husband that he had arrived safe at his destination and had hit only one pedestrian in the process.  Smart-ass kid.  ;)

Pray with me that this wasn't a mistake.

  

T'was the Friday before Christmas - December 20, 2024

...and all through the house, gifts were stashed all over the place.

I've been picking up Christmas loot for the past couple of months.  Since there's not any place in my house that is off-limits to The Grandchildren, I had to do some creative hiding.  In the process, I ended up hiding stuff from myself.

Don't pretend you haven't done this.  

The Husband has gone out Christmas shopping.  Before he left, he went over his list with me.  When he got to The Great-Nephew, I said, "Wait!  I got him a Hot Wheels Car Wash!"  I'd completely forgotten about it.

The hunt started.

When I found it, I discovered that I'd also bought the same toy for the LRB.  

These gifts will probably get both of them in trouble before Christmas Day is over, since they involve water.  But I probably won't be around to witness it, so . . . .   ;)

This morning, I wrapped almost everything I bought.  

Now that The Husband is out of the house for a while, I will wrap his stuff. 

If I can find it.

Announcements - December 19, 2024

1.  I have decided to retire.  Got a meeting with The Chief next week to work out the details.   

2. It is time to "get down to the nut-cuttin'" on Granddaughter #3's quilt.

    All of the 20 pre-stamped blocks are embroidered and ready to be made into a quilt.   I have chosen the quilt-as-you-go method of quilting because I didn't want to fool with frames.)  I chose to do it by hand because I like the feel of a hand-quilted quilt, plus I wanted to do it in my recliner.  

    Ten of the 20 blocks have been made into quilt sandwiches - block, batting, and backing, machine-basted together.  I've ready quilted 8 of the ten sandwich blocks.  Every block has a stamped seam line, 1/2" from the edge of the block. The finished size, assuming I can still sew a straight seam, will be 17" square.  Without sashing or borders, the finished size would be 56" x 73".  These measurements are skimpier than most full bed quilts.  The size could be increased with sashing, but I'm not sure I want any sashing.  Probably will add a border of some sort.

    I will have to sew the blocks together and then sew the borders on it without any seams showing.  Somehow.

    I probably will also have to trim down the batting to reduce bulk in the seams WITHOUT cutting the top or the backing.

    At this stage, it would probably be a good idea to try putting two blocks together to see if I've got the skills to do it!

  

Ewww... - December 17, 2024

Yesterday morning, I unloaded two boxes of records from my car and took them to the kitchen table to begin alphabetizing them.  The boxes have been wet at some point, and one of them collapsed as I was on my way through the living room.  Papers went everywhere.  I gathered them up and proceeded to the kitchen.  

About 1/4 of the way through the first box, I pulled out a folder that was moldy.  I didn't want to even touch it.  The records inside it were stuck together, and as I began to peel them apart, I started sneezing.  It occurred to me that this was probably not helping my cold.  I stopped peeling the pages apart, put them back in the moldy folder, and put them back in the box.  The next folder was moldy, too.

By this time, I'd already sorted a lot of the records into piles on the kitchen table.  I should either put the records back in their original folders or finish alphabetizing them all, but I did not want to proceed, at least not now, while I'm sick, and not on my kitchen table.  I gathered up all the records I'd already sorted, stuffed them back in the box, and took the boxes back to the car.  I will deal with them later, when I feel better, and the weather warms up enough for me to tolerate the cold, nasty workroom.

For the next few hours, I watched some videos about archiving.  It has been two or three weeks since I've checked in with The Boss to see if he's located space for the planned county archive.  At that time, he'd not had any success, so even if I knew everything there is to know about archiving, there's no place for me to get started.  I'm in limbo in that regard.

Mid-afternoon, I started thinking about what to fix for supper and decided to make a meatloaf.  Took some ground beef out of the freezer and put it in the sink to thaw.  It was ready to use by the time I needed to start supper.  The meatloaf came out of the oven just about the time The Husband was due home from work.  It was only when he was about 30 minutes late that I remembered he had a board meeting that night and would not be home for supper.  I also remembered that he had a work trip planned for today and Wednesday and would not be home for supper either of those nights.  

I would not have made a meatloaf just for me.  

When it cooled enough, I wrapped it up, put it in the refrigerator, and made myself some toast for dinner.  When The Husband finally came home, I learned that he'd cancelled the work trip.

At least I won't have to cook tonight.

Under the weather - December 16, 2024

Was it just last week that we went on the road trip across the state?  It seems like weeks ago.  

I came down with a sore throat and a seriously snotty nose while we were away.  I worried that it was strep throat.  Thursday, as we were on our way home, I called my doctor and asked that he call my pharmacy with a prescription for some antibiotics.  We stopped by the pharmacy on our way home and I popped the first pill in the car.  Been taking them faithfully ever since, but I'm not feeling much better.  Can't do anything without having to stop to blow my nose.  I spent most of the weekend reading or quilting in my recliner.  

The leather thimbles that I ordered before we left on our trip arrived while we were away.  By the time we got home, I'd punctured most of my fingers (sometimes with the dull end of the needle!).  The middle finger on my left hand - the "underneath hand" - is absolutely mangled, for I can't make any progress wearing a thimble or a pad on that finger.  I need to feel the needle coming through the back side of the quilt block to make sure it pierces all of the layers.  There are a few specks of blood on the back side of some of the blocks.

Still, the quilting is coming along, sore fingers notwithstanding.  Since I've had so much "down time" - in the car, in the hotel lobby, in the recliner - I've made good progress.  Almost finished the 7th block (out of 20) last night.  But it's back to work this week, so my progress will likely decline.  

There are four boxes of records in the back of my car, waiting to be alphabetized.  

I really, really do not want to work on them today.

But I probably will.

Dollywood - December 13, 2024

We're back, safe and somewhat sound, from The Husband's work trip to east Tennessee.  I say "somewhat" sound because I came down with a cold and a sore throat while we were there.

The meeting was supposed to occur in Ashville, NC, but - well, the flood.  The organizers were able to book last-minute accommodations at the HeartSong lodge at Dollywood.  It was a nice place, beautifully decorated for Christmas.  It was easy to get there.  The staff was friendly and helpful.  There was live music (a soloist) in the lobby every night that we were there.  The restaurant food was good.  No complaints at all, except that our room wasn't comfortable for sitting (there were nicer suites that had sitting room).  I spent a lot of time in the lobby lounge, working on my quilt blocks beside the windows, which faced a big patio with fire pits.

We got free passes to Dollywood for Tuesday.  Of course, The Husband was in meetings all day, and there was a group dinner that night, so we'd planned to go to Dollywood after dinner.  However, it was raining and nobody wanted to go.  Wednesday morning, while I was sewing by the windows, it started snowing.  It didn't stick - the high temperature on Tuesday was 70 - but it was nice to watch it falling.  After lunch, I ran into one of the other wives who said the lodge would give us a raincheck on our tickets, so when the conference finally ended Wednesday afternoon, The Husband and I bundled up and took the shuttle to the park.  It was all lit up.  Some of the rides were operating, but it was too cold for this old broad to be on a rollercoaster.  We walked around, listened to a choir sing Christmas hymns in front of an old-timey church building, hit a few shops (I so wanted a Dolly bobblehead for my "heroes" collection, but there was none to be found), and got frozen to the bone.  The place was a maze in the dark, and we finally had to ask for directions to the exit.  Thank goodness there was a hotel shuttle, warm and waiting, in the lot outside the gates. 

We hit the road early and got home in time to go to Granddaughter #2's Christmas concert.  The band started with "Sleigh Ride," and it gave me chills that had nothing to do with cold (the gym was an OVEN).

Dolly, if this gets back to you, make us a bobblehead.  The kid version of you in a coat of many colors would be awesome.  :)

'

I'm packed and ready to hit the road.  In my tote bag (which stays within reach in the car) are watercolor painting supplies, several quilt blocks, and a Kindle.  Good to go.  Waiting on The Husband

Yesterday, I went across the road to see if I could help with the renovation work.  Before I could get involved in anything, the Little Rotten Baby waylaid me, pushing a tiny shopping cart filled with tiny porcelain dolls.  "Grandmama, will you play dolls with me?"  I said I'd play for a minute.

There's no furniture in the house yet.  She asked, "Can you sit on the floor?"  I told her I could probably get down but might need help getting back up.  She said, "It's easy, Grandmama!" and flopped herself down on the floor then sprang back up to her feet to demonstrate.  I managed to sit, and asked her what game we were going to play with these dolls.

There were 12 of them, one for each month, dressed to the nines.  I'd given the girls these dolls a couple of years ago after we cleaned out Aunt M's apartment after her death.  At some point, prior to the LRB's memory, her mama had boxed them up for storage, and she'd found them again while packing to move.  The LRB was enthralled with them.  Her favorite was a dark-haired beauty, bejeweled and decked out in a frilly red dress.

The game was to line the dolls up on the floor, cover your eyes, and try to pick your favorite out of the bunch.  The LRB cheated like a big dog, peeking beneath her hand.  At one point, I tricked her by swapping the doll she was reaching for with another doll.  She pulled the same trick on me when it was my turn.

Rotten kid.  ;)

Road trip tomorrow, going all the way across the state.  There are dozens of things that I should be doing that are more important than writing this post.  But here I am.

In my defense, I'm all but packed for the trip.  Two days in the passenger seat and two days at the hotel don't require much of a wardrobe.  The catch is that there's a big dinner one night, and folks break out their party clothes for that, so I have to take something besides jeans and t-shirts so as not to embarrass The Husband.  ;)

I'm taking a couple of blocks to quilt during the drive.  The weather is going to be cold and yucky, and the town is going to be a madhouse to drive in, so I probably won't leave the hotel unless it's necessary.  I'm taking blank Christmas cards and watercolor supplies for the days I'm trapped in the room.

Son #2 is across the road, working on floors.  I should go help him.

A Night Out - December 7, 2007

We had tickets to see Billy Strings perform last night.  He is awesome.

I picked up The Brother-in-Law and Sister-in-Law early in the evening.  We met up with The Husband and Son #1 and his wife for dinner, then we went to the concert.  I was ashamed of myself for not getting tickets for Son #1, but I didn't, so we bought him a cool t-shirt at the concert.  

All of the pickers in the Billy Strings band are awesome.  

The only thing about concerts is that people in front of you will not sit their asses down.  I got tickets in a spot where I thought we might have minimal sight blockage, but I was wrong.  The whole place was on its feet.  I finally pecked the guy in front of me and asked him to move over a little bit so I could see better.  He might've moved two inches.  Not long after that, a friend joined him.  The friend seemed already about three sheets to the wind, and whatever he put up his nose a few minutes later made him seriously unsteady.  At one point, I was afraid he was going to fall backwards over the seat.

But, except for the rude people who would not sit down, it was a great concert.  

Hand Quilting - December 5, 2024

It's been a long time since I've hand-quilted anything.  When I started to quilt this first block for Granddaughter #3's quilt, I remembered why I wanted a quilting machine.  Hand quilting is hard.

It's hard to find the right needle.  There's a pile of them - all shapes and sizes - under that green bowl.  They're either sharp enough to draw blood on your "underneath hand" or too dull to pierce through all the layers while maintaining a reasonably small stitch.    

And dealing with thimbles....  OMG.  In all these years, I've never had a thimble that would stay on my finger.  I spend more time digging for it in the cushions than I do wearing it.  After working on this first block, I got online and ordered one of every kind of thimble I don't already have.  

But it's going better than I expected, so far.  

I used temporary adhesive to make the "sandwich," and then machine-basted the layers together, all the way around the square.  As you can see, the quilting is puckering the fabric a little.  This puckering may release when/if I take out the basting threads.  I suppose the block will need squaring later.

The quilting is going much faster than the embroidery.  It took anywhere from 3 days to 3 weeks to embroider each of the blocks.  I quilted 80% of this first block last evening.  

Clean Slate - November 4, 2024

Looky here:

I am cleaning off my sewing room table in preparation for a NEW PROJECT!  :)

On top of that table is a very large, very dirty cutting mat.  It has seen better days, and I would get another one if I could find one.  It is splotched with all kinds of paint.  It is warped, having been subjected to irons, heat guns, and heat presses.  It has dust-encrusted rectangles of tape residue all over it (though how it ever got dusty under the pile of crap that's usually piled on top is something of a mystery).  I've squirted it down and scraped off the paint and goo.  It's got to be clean, because my new project is white.

This new project is going to be a quilt for Granddaughter #3.  I've hand-embroidered 20 very large blocks with hearts and flowers.  I want to quilt it by hand (if my hand will hold up to the job), but I don't want to set up a big quilt frame, so I'm going to try to quilt it in blocks and then set them together.  Somehow.

Next week, we're going on a long road trip.  This will be my travel project.  I'll put together a few "quilt sandwiches" before we leave, and quilt them in the car.  The quilting ought to be easy, as the blocks are already stamped with a pretty quilting design.  It's the putting them together that worries me.

Yes, I've watched videos.  

Wish me luck.

Coats - December 4, 2024

Here it is, the middle of the week, already.  I've been alphabetizing records on my kitchen table for the past two days.  Today, I need to take these records back where they belong and pick up another year's worth of records.  

It's been colder than a well digger's butt for the past few days, and I dread lugging boxes of records in and out of the car.  I do not have the right clothes for this type of weather.  And since I left my one warm coat at Cousin Gus's house on Thanksgiving, I'm really in a fix.  The Husband has about 100 coats, for some reason, so I'll borrow one of his for today, and if I can catch Cousin Gus at home on my way back from town, I'll stop and get my coat.

My old coat really needs to be thrown away, but it's the warmest coat I've ever had.  Jacket length, black, knit fabric, washable.  It's too big, which is great.  But it has tiny (but steadily enlarging) holes in the left shoulder, where I've worn decorative pins that have gotten larger and heavier over the years (to cover up the holes).

Before Friday, I need to shop for another coat and some long johns.  Friday night, we are going to a Billy Strings concert and will be out in the cold going to and from the venue.  Next week, The Husband has a work trip that will include a "drone show" one night.  We'd both like to see that, if we can cope with the cold.  

Son #2's renovation project is coming along, despite a bunch of nasty surprises.  He's finally laying flooring; it's going down fast.  I think that as soon as the flooring is done, they will move in before the rest of the renovations are complete.  

 

Saturday morning, when I went across the street to help with the flooring job at Son #2's house, I discovered that it was not "flooring day" but "dump day."  In the front yard was a pile of debris from the renovation project that had grown about as tall as I am, and #2 and his wife were loading it, piece by piece, onto a trailer.  I put my gloves on and joined the party.  Every board in the pile had nails in it, and I tore my crepe-y old skin right off the bat.  It took five trailer loads to clear the pile. When the last load pulled away, there was still a load of bricks to be dealt with.  The Husband got out the tractor.  We put all the bricks in the tractor bucket, shoveled up the chunks, and he dumped them in a ditch at the edge of the bean field to help stem the erosion.  

In between dump trips, I came home and stirred up some chili in the crock pot.  When the renovation work stopped for the day, Son #2 and family came over for chili dogs.  Everybody was pooped.

Yesterday, The Husband and I could not offer much help with the renovation work.  #2 was doing some wiring work (he's an electrician by trade) and needed only one helper.  Since it was cold outside, I mostly spent the day reading in my recliner.  Left-over chili made a quick supper.

This morning, I have to run some errands, then I've got to come home and sort papers.  Such a fun day ahead.  ;)

Saturday - November 30, 2024

Both of our sons are in the middle of big projects.  A few weeks ago, Son #1 began to "tune up" the truck we bought for The Grandson.  He disassembled the thing and discovered it was gunked up something awful.  He cleaned all the parts and re-assembled the engine, and it wouldn't work.  No one is sure what happened.  He ended up buying a used motor to replace it.  This weekend's problem was getting the motor off the trailer.  He borrowed the "cherry picker" from Nanny's shop, only to discover that the hydraulic component was shot.  Yesterday morning, The Husband went out in search of a new hydraulic thing.  He was lunchtime getting back with it.

As soon as The Husband had eaten a sandwich, he went across the road to help Son #2 with his remodeling project - tearing out sub-flooring and shoring up floor joists.  They worked until 11:30 last night.

What was I doing all this time?  Babysitting the LRB and Granddaughter #3. Ten-year-old #3 had no problem amusing herself in my sewing room. (She has her own tub of fabric scraps.)  The LRB needed a little more attention.  We painted, read books, rode the rocking horse that Pop-Pop built for Granddaughter #1 almost 20 years ago.

The girls went home about 8:00.  The Husband and I cooked a frozen pizza, then he went back across the road to work on the house some more.  At 10:30, I went to bed, and never heard him when he finally came home.  

I hear hammering across the road.  Today's job will be laying floor covering.  I can probably help with that.

Brrrr! - November 29, 2024

We had Thanksgiving dinner at noon today with The Husband's extended family - his paternal grandmother's people.  Since the "old ones" died, the younger generation (now mostly in their 80s) seldom sees one another, but Cousin Gus throws a big stomp for this family twice a year - Thanksgiving and 4th of July.  It's always so good to get together.  Gus fried two turkeys and baked one.  His wife makes the BEST cornbread dressing.  Everyone brought a dish or two.  Mine were scalloped potatoes and a pecan cobbler.  

Mid-afternoon, we noticed that Son #2 and his family were across the road, working on the house, so we walked over to see if we could help.  #2 and Granddaughter #1 were in the process of tearing out of sub-flooring in this old house.  The Husband jumped in to help.  With the sub-flooring torn out, the house was cold.  My contribution to the renovation effort was to bring the LRB to my house.

Earlier in the week, I'd found a 24-piece jigsaw puzzle that I'd worked with the older granddaughters and thought to keep it out for the LRB, who will be 4 in a couple of months.  I showed it to her as soon as we got here, and she was gung-ho to try it.  We worked it three times before she got bored and noticed these guys atop a cabinet:

They have been around this house far longer than the LRB has been in the world.  She'd been asking about them for a year or so, but I'd always diverted her attention.  Yesterday, she insisted on knowing what they were.  When I told her what they do, she insisted on a demonstration.  I got the red one down, filled a cup of water, soaked the bird's head, and set him by the cup to do his thing.  We waited and waited, and finally he began to tilt toward the cup, but he stopped before he got there.  We waited some more.  He would not do it.  About 10 minutes had gone by when Granddaughter #1 came in and reminded me that one of the two birds hadn't worked right when she was a kid.  So I got down the green one, soaked his head in the cup, and set him down by it.  We all three watched with bated breath as the green liquid started to ease up the tube (the red one had done that, too), and when it reached the top and the bird flopped downward, the LRB let out a delighted scream (as only little girls can do!) that nearly busted all our eardrums.  We watched him do it a couple more times before the girls had to go.

They'll be working on the house again today, and it's COLD, so I'll go get her if they don't drop her off.  One guess what we'll do when she gets here.

I should go figure out why the red bird won't work.

 

La

Thanksgiving Eve - November 27, 2024

Monday, I went to my workroom long enough to load up three boxes of Phase 1 reports to bring home.  By 7 a.m. yesterday, I was sorting them on my kitchen table.  The table isn't quite big enough to get the job done, so the work branched out to the countertops and stovetop.  By mid-afternoon, the records had been sorted into A-B-C piles, but I didn't get around into sorting each pile alphabetically.  I put each pile into its own folder and stuffed them back into the boxes.  I'll get to them . . . sometime.

Over the weekend, my niece had brought me four jackets on which she wanted her company logo and department name embroidered.  I digitized the logo Sunday and started the embroidery process yesterday afternoon.  All went well until the last item, a quilted, tuft-y nylon vest.  After embroidering the logo, the embroidery machine tried to eat the vest when it started sewing the department name.  Part of the vest lining was wadded up (along with a bird nest of thread) between the throat plate and the bobbin.  I had to pry up the throat plate (hard to do when it's trapped under the embroidery hoop) and cut the thread nest out with a scalpel.  Luckily, I managed to do that without slicing the vest, itself.  The machine had embroidered half of the letter "R."  It took about an hour to pick the stitches out.  The embroidery machine had made a little hole in the nylon fabric when it jammed.  It might have been possible to re-start the embroidery process at the point where things went sideways, but I was afraid I'd only make it worse.  Since the jacket is tuft-y, the hole isn't all that visible.  Miss Niece will just have a logo without a department name on that vest.  Or wear a scarf.  ;)

Granddaughter #1 came home from college for Thanksgiving.  She (and her rescued dog) knocked on our door at 7:30 last night.  She and her family are across the road this morning, working on the house.  She knocked on the door at 7 this morning to borrow toilet paper.  It's going to be a long day of renovation work.

I should probably go across the road and see if the Little Rotten Baby wants to come to my house, to get her out of the way.

Lollygagging - November 25, 2024

I am lollygagging this morning.  Friday afternoon, I texted the dude who has been letting me in the building at 7 every morning and told him that I would not be there so early today.  All I intend to do once I get there is load up a year's worth of Phase I reports and bring them home to sort.  That workroom may not see me again until after Thanksgiving.

Yesterday after lunch, The Husband and Cousin David showed up.  David had asked The Husband to help him unload some furniture and then drive him back down here to pick up a car.  When they came in, I said to them, "I bet Son #2 would like some help with his renovation work."  David high-tailed it out of here. The Husband and I went across the road to help.

In addition to other remodeling, #2 is taking out two walls, opening up the front rooms of the house into one large room.  One of the walls had a brick hearth that went all the way to the ceiling (a wood stove once sat there).  #2 and The Husband sledge-hammered the bricks and hauled them out in a wheelbarrow.  While they did that, I took up carpet tack strips and staples from the floors. 

I do not have a single finger that doesn't have something wrong with it. Cuts.  Blood blisters.  Bruises.  Splinters.  These, on top of the arthritis and the sliced cuticles from the file job at work.  My hands are screaming, "Enough,already!"  

If I'd had good sense, I'd have worn gloves.

But nobody ever accused me of having good sense.  ;)

Sunday Morning - November 24, 2024

I did not sleep very well last night.  The problem was my hands.  They've taken a beating for the last few weeks.  

"Arthur" plagues my hands.  At work, reaching into tightly-packed file boxes, gripping the tops of as many files as I can (slicing my cuticles in the process), and tugging them out - that's hard to do with compromised grip strength and made my entire arms hurt.  Last week, I nearly ripped a mole off the back of my hand when it connected with a sharp corner inside a file cabinet.  Yesterday, at #2's house, I pried and hammered, sustaining a few lovely blood blisters and bruises.  Hauling broken tile to the trash gifted me with several cuts that are sore as heck today.  My hands throbbed all night.

This morning, I swallowed some Tylenol with my breakfast, gearing up for another day of de-construction.

Renovating Begins - November 23, 2024

Whew...the past few days have been a whirlwind.

Yesterday, I almost finished the file project.  There are maybe a dozen files on the table that need to be put in place, but all of the years are in the cabinets, and (hopefully) in numerical order.  The next job is to finish alphabetizing the Phase I reports.  It is getting uncomfortably cold in my unheated workspace, so I will be bringing these reports home to sort out.

After work yesterday, The Husband said he had agreed to help Cousin David with some chores this weekend.  I was a bit irked that he'd agreed to do it.  For one thing, Cousin David lives two hours away.  For another, Son #2 and his family are across the road, working on the house they just bought - tearing down walls, ripping out carpet, prying up tiles.  The Husband and Cousin David need to be helping them.

After The Husband left, I walked across the road and offered to help.  I pulled up carpeting from one room and pried up all the nail strips (that was a b*tch).  About the time I finished that job, Son #2 started trying to remove the tile from the kitchen floor.  That was a worse job!  Son #1 showed up to help, and we managed to get the tile off the floor with a sledgehammer and some pry bars.  Then we had to haul the debris to the dump - two trailer loads.

I am whipped!

I came home about dark and started a pot of taco soup.  It's simmering on the stove.  In a bit, I'm going to shower off the construction dust, have a bowl of soup, and call it a day.

A Big Day - November 20,2024

This day is notable for a couple of reasons.  

One, Son #2's family formally gains ownership of the house across the street from us.  The house is livable as is, if one could abide 1980s mauve carpeting in the main rooms.  #2's family of 6 (5 females and 1 male) (plus 3 dogs) has been living in a rental house with three bedrooms and one bath.  The house across the road from us has 5 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms.  The house has been added-to over the years, and so the arrangement of the rooms is a little weird, but it's kind of cool, too. #2 wants to move some walls and lay flooring and build countertops and stuff like that.  The house comes with a workshop and a few tools.  #2 is over the moon about the workshop.  :)

Two, I got some sh*t done at work today.  My daily goal has been to get one year's worth of records in the file cabinets and get the next year ready to sort.  Every day I've thought, tomorrow's going to be worse, but today I thought that the worst of the work might be behind me.  There are only a couple more years to go, and their volume is lower.  Besides that, I have become a number-sorting MACHINE and can knock out a pile of files in nothing flat.  2019 is in the cabinets, and 2020 is on the table, ready to sort, so at noon I said, Screw this," and came home.

 

Tuesday - November 19, 2024

Son #2 and his wife are buying the house across the road from us.  This house first belonged to The Husband's grandparents, then his aunt and uncle.  Tomorrow is the closing date.  I'm excited that The Granddaughters will be living close enough to walk to my house when they get the notion.  They've already moved a few things into the garage.  My son wants to do a little bit of work to the house - e.g., take up the 1980s mauve carpet and replace it with other flooring - before they fully move in.  

My work project is progressing steadily.  This afternoon, the 2018 files went into the cabinets, and about half of the 2019 files have been sorted into months.  By Thanksgiving, I may have all the files done.

 

Houseplants - November 17, 2024

The Thanksgiving cactus on the living room windowsill is setting buds!  It's a miracle the poor thing survives. It was a grocery store impulse purchase a couple of years ago, blooming its head off when I got it.  To my mind, it would be a one-season deal, for I did not expect it to live much beyond the bloom.  And here it is, still kicking.  It must appreciate extended periods of neglect.  It gets a tiny shot of water every time its neighbors (African violets) droop over the sides of their pots.

Last year at Nanny's Christmas breakfast, Son #1's family gave me a cute planter with live succulents in it.  They gave Nanny one just like it.  Neither of us had much experience with succulents (except for my Thanksgiving cactus).  We were told that all the plants needed was a once-a-month misting.  In the hubbub of the morning, I came home without my planter, and it was spring before I thought to bring it home.  It contained a couple of "hen & chicks" and one tube-like thing that looked like it ought to be growing on the sea floor.  By the time I took custody, the "hen & chicks" looked kind of like palm trees - long "trunks" with a whorl of leaves at the top.  The other thing - whatever it is - was kind of . . . pleated . . . and the tops of the tubes were slightly recessed; I thought maybe that was its water-catching mechanism.  I set it on the back porch and faithfully misted it all summer.  A couple of weeks ago, when night temperatures got cool, I brought it inside and set it on the windowsill above the sink, where the Richard Simmons Chia Head usually lives, and where a florescent light burns 24/7.  

Every time I go to the sink, I see this planter and think that the tube-like thing must be the ugliest plant I've ever seen.  Two days ago, a succulent plant care video popped up in some feed, and I watched it.  It turns out that a once-a-month misting is NOT what succulents like; they need a once-a-month drenching/draining.  So I immediately drenched/drained it.  The next day, the tube-like thing (I keep meaning to look up its name) was fleshy, turgid, even.  Its looks improved considerably.

I don't know what to do about the palm trees.  

While I was writing this post, I noticed that the wrens were squawking like crazy, something I've come to recognize as their burglar alarm.  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw movement, Cousin Roger's striped gray cat was trotting across the back yard, and the birds were following it in the trees, still squawking.  They stopped when the cat went home.  The next time they do this, I'm going to listen to see if there's an "all clear" signal.  ;)

Friday! - November 15, 2024

I actually kind of hated to leave work today.

I KNOW!

But it's true.  Kind of.

It took from 7 a.m. until 1:30 p.m. to put the 2016 files in order and get them in the cabinets.  The 2017 files are piled high on a table, in no certain order.  I'd set my phone to alarm at 2 to remind me to run by the courthouse on the way home.  I grabbed up an armload of 2017 files and started sorting them into months on another table.  In the 30 minutes left to work, I barely made a dent in the piles.  I considered working a while longer - the 2 o'clock deadline was my own - but I'd still be there if I'd stayed until the month sort was finished.  The 2017 files will probably take two days to finish.  

I hope to be through with this part of the job by the end of next week.  There are loose ends left to tie up, though.  There was a lot of loose paper crammed in between the files.  I have been tossing it all into a box - several boxes, actually; ain't no way I'm filing it.  Not gonna do it.  But there are several boxes of Phase I records that mysteriously appeared long after people were supposed to have double-checked the hide-y holes for stray boxes.  I feel obligated to deal with those.  

But I am not going to do it in my current unheated workspace.  I wore two sets of clothes to work today - leggings and a t-shirt under jeans and a flannel shirt - and wore all of it - plus a jacket - all day.  My hands and feet are numb. I am too old to suffer this treatment.  When I get this file cabinet situation in hand, they can find me somewhere warm to work or kiss my butt goodbye.

I'll be having a margarita in about two hours.  Cheers!

Morning edition - November 14, 2024

How I have missed mornings on the back porch.  It is sunny, and the birds are singing.  There are calls and whistles I don't recognize.  Migrants must have spent the night in our trees.  We've had new birds come through for several weeks now.  Over the past couple of weeks, I've heard unfamiliar evening and night chatter, just for a day, maybe two.  More than once, I've run in the house to tell The Husband, "Come listen to this bird!"  Without fail, whatever it was went silent by the time he made it to the back porch.  This past weekend, there was one who did a long whistle that fell in pitch at the end.  Sounded almost human.  I whistled back, but he/she ignored me.

My newest Civil War diary arrived yesterday.  I read a bit of it last night.  The writer, an Alabama girl, is 17 and attending school in Washington, DC, with her younger sister, in 1859.  She talks about her lessons and her visits and her clothes, stuff any teenage girl would write about.   There is mention of sewing, but, so far, zero mention of chores, like laundry or cooking or cleaning.  She goes to churches of several denominations to hear the various sermons.  (The Catholic services were something of a mystery to her.)

At this same time, not far from where she grew up, my sharecropper ancestors were embroiled in a lawsuit involving some land, some household goods, and a slave.  One of them was running a school on his property.  I expect that it was very different from the school the girl was attending.  I'd love to know who his students were, but I have not found any historical references to this school other than in the lawsuit documents.

I should be working on the files I brought home.  

Rain, rain, go away ... November 13, 2024

 It was raining when I left for work this morning, and it's still raining this afternoon. I've about had enough of this.  I wore my ugly Crocs to work because they're my most comfortable shoes for standing on my feet all day, and I wore socks with them because it's cold and my workroom is unheated. (So attractive and fashionable.)  Naturally, in all the rain, my feet got wet and those hole-y socks did little to keep the water out, so I sloshed around in wet socks all day, part of the reason for my exceedingly foul mood.

My job sucks.

The 2015 files - or, rather, most of them - went into the cabinets today, and the 2016 files, which were in alphabetical order, are ready to be put in numerical order.  In sorting them by months, I discovered a whole pile of files that had no numbers on them.  Makes me want to choke somebody.  I brought them home and intend to work on them tomorrow, where it'll be warm and dry.  

I need to retire.

I was not worth a plugged nickel yesterday.   In fact, I'm still wearing the pajamas that I went to bed in Saturday night.  I did manage to make a pot of chicken & dumplings for supper last night (had some for breakfast this morning).

Mostly, I read.  I typically do most of my reading on a Kindle in bed at night, but this Civil War diary is a paper book.  Before I got a Kindle, I had a couple of clamp-on book lights and could read a "real" book in bed at night, but the book lights have disappeared or quit working, so I am reading this diary in the recliner.

This is not the first Civil War diary I've read.  Thirty-something years ago, I forgot to send back the Book-of-the-Month Club card and subsequently received in the mail a copy of Mary Chestnut's Civil War Diary.  At the time, I was working for a law firm in Memphis and had two small children, so it took weeks to finish the book.  During that time, I went on a job interview with a law firm closer to home.  The lawyer who interviewed me was at that time working on a book about Civil War gun boats.  One of the first questions he asked me was, "Do you like to read?"  When I told him what I was then reading, he hired me on the spot.  However, when I turned in my notice to the old firm, they sweetened the deal, and I ended up not taking the job that was closer to home, something I've regretted over the years.  After all this time, I scarcely remember anything about Mary Chestnut.   

The woman in this current book is her early 20s and has about 4 different men wanting to marry her.  (Three of them are Confederate soldiers; I haven't yet discovered how many of them made it back alive.)  She spends her time sewing and cooking and such, but the family owns slaves (for now), so she is not working in the fields or doing other physically laborious jobs.  Her life is nothing like the life my poor sharecropper ancestors lived.  

The other two diaries I recently bought are written by women who, according to the introductions, were socially prominent.  Their lives won't mirror my ancestors' lives, either.  I've found another book (it's on its way!) written by a high-society woman who at least lived in the same vicinity as my ancestors.  Since I'm looking for speech patterns, maybe this one will be more helpful in finding "voice."  

  

'Nastics - November 10, 2024

Yesterday didn't turn out exactly as I expected.

The plan was to attend Granddaughter #3's gymnastics team's mid-day exhibition and then go to my brother's house to visit with him and his daughter and her family, who are visiting from out of state.  By the time the gymnastics performances started, the visit with my niece's family had been cancelled, so instead of heading to my brother's house, we took Granddaughter #3 and her family to a late lunch.  

The gymnastics exhibition was sweet.  About 20 little girls did the same routines, one after the other.  They flipped and tumbled and pranced.  So cute, especially the smallest gymnast in the group, who gave it all she had, seemingly without fear or nervousness.

Granddaughter #4 ("The Little Rotten Baby" from past posts) is also in gymnastics, but her age group did not perform.  It would probably have been like herding cats.  She did, however, pull off a couple of wobbly cartwheels on the sidelines between events.  At almost 4, she is still rotten.  Living in a house full of teen or pre-teen sisters, she picks up things.  After the exhibition, as we were standing around with her family, discussing what we wanted to eat, she asked me, "Do you have any cash?"

The Husband and I made it home about 4 o'clock.  I spent most of the afternoon reading Serepta Jordan's diary entries.  In one of them, she used her aunt's term, "pain under the apron," in reference to menstrual cramps.  Such phrases are just the type of gems I'm looking for.  

Long Weekend - November 8, 2024

Thank goodness for Friday, and for the long weekend ahead.  

It's been a tough week, physically tough.  I would like nothing better than to spend the next three days in pajamas, but that'll never happen.  A good chunk of tomorrow is already filled, first with a mid-day trip to the Big City to watch ten-year-old Granddaughter #3 do gymnastics, and then to my brother's house to visit with his family.  There's nothing in the refrigerator except pickles and jelly and some whisker-y carrots that need to go to the compost pile, so I ought to go to the grocery store at some point, but I probably won't.  There are too many other things I want to do, such as painting or reading.  

Over the past couple of weeks, three new books have come in the mail.  All three are diaries of women who lived in middle Tennessee during the Civil War.  I've been getting up early to read, mostly as research for my family history.  These three women are not related to me, as far as I know.  Most of my relatives in that era would not have been able to keep diaries, for most of them could not read or write and could not have afforded pencil and paper. I am just reading to see what life was like in those days, and how women framed their sentences.  

As for painting, I'd like to work on the tire cover that I bought for the Wrangler.  I'm doing it with oil paints, which takes FOREVER to dry, especially when the air is damp as it is now.  I started this thing a month ago and have been moving it back and forth between my craft table and various chair backs, trying to keep it out of the traffic so that no rug-rat - or grown-ass old woman - brushes against it while it dries.  There's not much left to do, really; I ought to just finish it.  It'll be such a nice surprise for that egghead who tailgates me all the way to work.  

I'd also like to work on some Christmas cards.  Watercolor.  I ordered some new brushes yesterday.  They won't arrive for weeks, but the old ones will hold up long enough to do the cards.  

The Husband's cousin David (Cousin Roger's brother) gave me a very cool gift this week, a sewing basket that belonged to his mother or grandmother.  It is a cane basket, darkened with age, shaped like a shallow bowl, with a flat detached lid.  It contained supplies for hand sewing.   The bottom was full of old buttons.  It looks really cool on the sewing room shelf.

Nanny just called to report that there's a strange truck "with some kind of government tags" parked at the end of her driveway.  She said the windows were too dark to see inside, and that she'd pecked on the window, but nobody answered.  She'd written down the license number.  There was talk of loading the shotgun.  I went outside to eyeball the truck while on the phone with her but didn't recognize the truck and didn't see anyone inside it (the windows certainly were dark!) or anywhere around. I told her I'd keep an eye out.  When we hung up, I took a picture of the truck and walked around the back to take a picture of the license plate.  It was a temporary tag in a car dealer frame, not a "government " tag.  I sent the pictures to Son #1, suspecting it is his stepson's truck.  Sure enough, it is.  The driver is most likely stalking deer in the woods behind the house.  I called Nanny back and told her to unload the gun.   

It's almost margarita time.  

Progress - November 7, 2024

It's a little nippy on the back porch this afternoon.  Cloudy and damp. 

The birds are talking amongst themselves, as are the frogs in the pond and in the trees.  I don't hear any squirrels barking.  They're probably busy burying acorns while there's still daylight.

One looks for peace where one finds it, eh?

I made good progress at work today.  Finished 2012 and started on 2013.  Some guys came and hauled away two huge stacks of crushed banker box lids, so the workroom is a little neater.  

And tomorrow is Friday.  Yay!

And Monday is a government holiday.  Yay!

Election Day - November 5, 2024

Not gonna lie, I'm nervous about this election and its aftermath.  There is more than enough crazy on the loose these days.  The scary thing is that it only takes a few to screw things up for everyone.

This will drag on for days, weeks, months.

I'm weary of it.

I'm also weary of this work project.  

The 2010s are done, and the 2011s are stacked on the tables, waiting to be sorted.  I fear I have not left room enough to work in the "mystery" files.  

Tomorrow, I'm going to skip one or two file cabinets and hope for the best.

Monday Funday (not!) - November 4, 2024

I so wanted to shoot hooky today.

But I also want to get this freakin' project done, so I dragged my butt to work.

The 2009 files were on the table, waiting to be sorted.  By 10:30, I was ready to move them into a cabinet drawer.  On my way to the cabinet, I glanced at the 2010s, thinking I might be able to finish them today.  To my horror, the cabinet drawer I opened (third from the top) was full of 2005 files. 

I said every cuss word I know, and some I didn't.

The bottom drawer was empty.  

How in the hell did I just flat skip a drawer? 

You realize what had to happen, don't you?  

I had not packed the file drawers tightly to account for the "mystery" files that must eventually be worked into the system.  But the 2005 files only took up two drawers, and there was no way they'd absorb a whole 'nother drawer full.  I had to empty a drawer, which meant emptying ALL the drawers in ALL of the cabinets, one drawer at a time.

Cuss words flew all afternoon.  

Heaven only knows if those files made it back in the drawers in the right order.

The one bright spot in the day was that someone came looking for a file and actually found it. :)

I said, "You put that right back where you found it when you're done."

As soon as I got the 2010 files stacked on the tables (yes, I double-checked ALL the drawers), I high tailed it out of there.  

I was on feet for 7 straight hours.   Everything in/on me hurts.  

Fall Back Day - November 3, 2024

The Grandson called Friday afternoon, wanting to hang out with us this weekend.  When The Husband got home from work, we picked the young'un (now 17) up, took him to dinner, and brought him home with us.  

Saturday the menfolk worked on the Cherokee.  Between finding the part (a thermostat), installing it, and putting everything back together (which required another trip to the parts store), it took nearly all day.  We were intending to leave the house about 5 p.m. to watch Granddaughter #2's band march in a competition, but were a little late by the time the menfolk got the grease off of themselves.

#2's band came in third.  :(

It was late when we got home, and we all went straight to bed.

The menfolk test-drove the car today.  It didn't over-heat.  Problem solved, hopefully.

When they got home, they discovered that the leaf mulcher had been delivered to the front porch.  As we were assembling it, The Husband got a phone call from Son #1's wife.  Axel (the aged, sh*thead Rottweiler) has been feeling poorly.  Earlier this week, the vet didn't hold out much hope for his survival, but Son #1 could not bear to have Axel euthanized.  The vet gave Axel a couple of shots, and they brought him home.  Today, he is worse.  The Husband, The Grandson, and the Daughter-in-Law have taken Axel to the vet.  

Axel won't be coming home.  :(

Leaf Mulchers - October 31, 2024

As you might have noticed from yesterday's picture, our yard is carpeted with leaves, with more on the way down.  By the time the trees are bare, leaves will be up to our shins.

I don't mind the leaves on the ground; I think they're beautiful.  But I want to make compost with some of them, and for that they really need to be shredded.  Two springs ago, we bought an electric leaf shredder, big scary thing, and boy did it shred.  It played out last fall.  Yesterday, I shopped online for a new one.

I decided to try a cordless one that can be carried, like a leaf-blower.  (This is a leaf-sucker, I reckon.)  It probably won't have enough ooomph to do the whole yard on one charge, but we never do the whole yard, anyway.  Home Depot had them on sale.  I stopped after work to get one.  They didn't have the same package advertised online - the mulcher plus the necessary charging equipment - for $219.  They had the leaf mulcher, itself, but the charging stuff didn't come with it, and they wouldn't sell me the mulcher AND the charging stuff for $219.  So I stood there in the store and ordered it online, to be shipped to my house. 

The second errand I had to do after work was stop by the store for coffee filters and toilet paper.  In the store, I got to talking with the employees and the Coke truck driver, and went to the cash register with only coffee filters and a bag of Halloween candy.  As soon as the transaction was complete, I remembered toilet paper.  On the way to get it, I picked up a 3-box package of Kleenex and stuffed it under my arm so I could get the toilet paper.  At the register, I flopped the toilet paper onto the counter, paid for it, and started out of the store with the Kleenex boxes still under my arm.  Only when I reached for my keys in my pocket did I realize that I was about to shoplift.  Went back to the register and paid for it.  

I brought home a box of mystery files to work on.  It's still in my car - couldn't manage it AND the toilet paper at once - and now I don't want to go out in the rain to get it. My feet hurt, and my back is tired.  My sorting system involves four 8-ft long tables, set two by two.  I've put stickers, 1 through 12, on two of the tables, and stickers, 1 through 31 on the other two.  I dole out a year's worth of files, by month on one side of the worktables, and then by day on the other, walking around and around those tables.  Then I sort them by time and take them to the cabinets.  With each year, the stacks get higher.  I did 2007 today, and it took all day.  2008 is on the tables, ready for tomorrow.  Having already sorted all of the files by year, I can see what's ahead.  It's going to be a tactical nightmare.  I may need more tables.

And better shoes.

What a day! - October 30, 2024

I woke up early this morning, showered, put on my housecoat and house shoes, and settled down in my recliner to drink my coffee and read for an hour before work. 

I don't know if I'd had my first sip before the telephone rang.

A call at 5 a.m. is seldom good news.

It was Nanny.  She said, "I need help."

I grabbed my keys and ran.

She came to the door with a bloody towel on her face.  She had face-planted on the floor. There was blood everywhere.  She was sure her nose was broken. 

I said, "Sit down and hold your head back, and let me get you some ice."

She would not sit down, kept trying to mop up blood with a wet towel, using her foot. I kept saying, "Nanny, SIT DOWN!" and finally she did, and I took over the mopping.  After a few minutes, my sister-in-law called.  She is a nurse and was on her way to work.  We agreed that Nanny probably ought to be checked out at the hospital. I said I'd take her.  About that time, The Husband came in.  I left Nanny with him and went home to put on some clothes.  When I got back, my sister-in-law was there and said she'd take over the hospital visit.

I went on to work.  The Husband texted mid-morning that Nanny did have a broken nose but was otherwise okay.

Despite all the morning frenzy, I made good progress on Phase II, Part A.  By 1:30, my feet were killing me, and I called it quits on the sorting.  I brought a box of mystery files home with me. 

This is a much better view than the nasty old file room.

A Good Day - October 27, 2024

Yesterday was a good day, even though it didn't turn out the way I intended.

Last week, by chance, I became re-acquainted with an "old love" when I accidentally swiped open a book on my Kindle and decided to re-read it.  

I never re-read books, but I'd just finished Bob Woodward's new book, it was late in the day, and I was swiping to see if there was a book I hadn't read (sometimes I download several at a time and forget about one or more of them).  I opened The Rule of Four by accident.  (This happens a lot and explains how new, unread books can get buried beneath old ones.)  Anyway . . . .

It's been 20 years since I read The Rule of Four.  I'd remembered it being vaguely strange and a little creepy in ways but couldn't remember why, so I read a little bit of it, and came across the mention of an old book, written in 1499.  (Not even going to TRY to spell the title here, since I can't even pronounce it.)  

This is what kept me up too late this week.

The Husband had an event to attend yesterday.  I begged off.  My plan was to be home alone and find that 1499 book.

When I found it, I was flung back in time, a little less than 20 years ago, when I became fixated on an "armchair treasure hunt."  My heart raced a little.  I'd spent years (and a whole lot of money) pursuing answers I never found.  Could this be it???

Sometime during the morning, I called my sister, and we made plans to hang out with our brother that afternoon.  Not long after that conversation, my BFF called, and we yapped until it was time for me to hit the road to my brother's house.  I'd barely glimpsed 1499 all morning.

When I came home from my brother's house, The Grandson was here.  I hadn't seen him for weeks.  He was filthy, and shaggy as a poodle.  He had been helping his dad re-assemble a motor, and he stank of burnt motor oil and gas.  I made him bend down so I could kiss his nasty face.  :-*

When everyone went home and it got quiet, I went back to Mr. 1499. 

It was a good day.  :)

TGIF - October 25, 2024

Phase II, Part B is done.  

Today I resumed the work on Part A, doing the easy stuff while I await answers on the rest.  The plan was to organize the 80s and 90s files and go through the "mystery" files one more time.  But I'd stayed up too late, reading, two nights in a row, and was basically a blob of goo by the time I finished organizing the old files.  The mystery files can wait until Monday.

Three hours and counting until it's margarita time.  ;)

Steering Wheel Cover - October 21, 2024

After much deliberation, The Husband bought himself a new cover for the Cherokee's steering wheel.  It came in the mail last week.  It was nothing but a flat strip of leather (?), maybe 3" wide, with its ends sewn together, and thick thread stitching along both edges.  It had to be stretched over the steering wheel (which was a b*tch to do) and sewn in place with a needle and thread (included), using the holes along the edges made by the original stitching (this was also a b*tch to do).  There was a how-to video, which The Husband had watched a couple of times before ordering the cover.

Having spent most of my life with a needle of some description in my hand, I knew how hard sewing this was going to be, especially for The Husband, who has arthritis in his hands.  I offered to do it for him, but he seemed to want to do it, himself, so I left him to it and went back to my daily word puzzle.  

After a few minutes, he came to the porch and said he was having trouble getting it on the steering wheel.  I went out there in my housecoat to help him.  It was REALLY tight, but with both of us pulling and grunting and cussing, we got it on.  The Husband said he could take it from there, so I headed toward the porch to finish my puzzle.

On the way, I stopped to pull up some weeds that will take over the bed next year if I let them go to seed.  When I realized leaves and seeds were sticking to my fuzzy housecoat, I changed clothes and went back out.  It seemed like the more I pulled, the bigger the job got.  I was working on a bank that's mostly covered with English ivy and creeping juniper through which tree saplings have grown.  Lopping them out was scary for a lot of reasons - snakes, bugs, falls with broken bones.... I finally got out the big push-type weed trimmer and mowed some of that mess down so I could better see where I was stepping.

The Husband was still sewing when I quit the yardwork.  He did not seem to be having a good time. I'd been back on the porch for about 5 minutes when Nanny called and said she'd made tacos for lunch if we wanted to come eat.  I started to beg off since The Husband was in the middle of something, then I thought maybe a break would do him some good.  He pretty much jumped at the chance.  His hands needed some rest.  When we came home from Nanny's, he got back to work.  It took a while, but he got the thing on - not quite to his satisfaction, but close enough, for now.  

I spent the rest of the afternoon wishing I didn't have to go to work today.  Arrive at 7:00, go for my yearly physical at 1:45, pick up groceries between 1 and 2.  I hate days with multiple things to do all at once.

Left work early, picked up the groceries on the way to the doc.  He was on time, and I got home with food that was still frozen.  The Husband has a board meeting after work, and I'm not cooking supper tonight.  The day wasn't so bad, after all.

EXCEPT -

I reached something of an impasse at work today.  Questions must be answered before I can proceed.  

Celebrate - October 19, 2024

I need to be doing stuff instead of sitting here on the back porch in my housecoat, with a space heater running at my feet.

At 6:00 tonight, we'll be going to a birthday party for our step-granddaughter, who turns 13 today.  I do not have a present for her because I have been unable to decide what to get her.  She is tiny, and every garment I've ever bought for her was too large.  I've given her tons of art supplies and make-up.  The only thing I can think of that might delight her is money that she can spend as she wants.  My plan is to buy her a clear plastic purse/bag (you gotta have those to get into almost any venue these days) and put a gift card in it.  I have been keeping an eye out for those clear bags in the few stores I go to because I've wanted one myself, but I haven't found any.  Yesterday on my way home from work, I stopped at a shopping center where there were about three stores that *might* have a plastic purse.

When I parked and looked down to get my purse, I saw my office laptop in the floorboard.  I'd have to either take the laptop into the store(s) or leave it in the car and risk having it stolen.  It is HEAVY.  It is in a lime green computer bag that stands out against dark upholstery and carpet, screaming "hey, criminal, look over here!"  I was not willing to risk leaving it. 

Neither was I willing to lug it into the stores.  It must weigh 20 pounds, and so did my schlepping bag, and I was already exhausted.  Phase II, Part B kicked my butt this week.  Before I could officially begin to organize the Part B files, about 30 heavy boxes had to be moved so that I could get to the legal-size file cabinets I would need.  Some of the boxes needed to be heaved atop the file cabinets.  I could have made some phone calls and borrowed some muscle, but the process would have taken days, so I moved the boxes myself and got on with the sorting.  I spent two days on my feet sorting files.  I decided to high-tail it home and deal with finding the purse today.

I am hoping to find one at the annual community festival that's going on in town today. We're  

******** 

As I was writing this post, The Husband interrupted me to go to the festival to eat junk from the food trailers for lunch.  It was a nice day, so we took the top off the Wrangler and rode in style.  We walked around for a couple of hours, saw a bunch of people we knew, stood for some selfies.  We did find some yummy treats, but the lines were long.  By the time we sat down on some hay bales to eat, my neck and shoulder muscles and feet were going, "WTF did you DO?"  We left as soon as we finished eating, aiming to go to another town to find the #*!&@ clear purse.  But - HALLELUJAH! - on our way out, I poked my head in a store and they actually had the perfect purse(s).  I came home, bought the gift card online, painted a birthday card, and tucked it all into a gift bag.  Then I texted my daughter-in-law, "Is the party still on for 6?"

Guess what?

"Oops."  Something came up, and they postponed the party for two weeks and forgot to tell me. 

I said, "You mean I changed drawers today for NOTHING?"

Whatever.  

At least I can stop sweating the gift.  :)

Brrrr! - October 14, 2024

 It's cold on the back porch tonight.  It's supposed to get down to the mid-40s tonight, and maybe a light frost tomorrow night.  I am not mentally ready for cold weather.  

My workspace will probably be cold in the morning.  

I got a lot done today.  The Part A files are almost sorted by year, except for a few strays that are probably hiding in the Part B boxes, which I tore into today.  Before I can do much with those boxes, I'm going to need some muscle.  Things need to be brought down from the tops of file cabinets, and other things need to go up.  Empty file cabinets need to be moved or uncovered and put to use.  Mounds of cardboard need to be toted away.  

It's nearing time for decisions that are over my pay grade.  

Sunday - October 13, 2024

Around lunchtime Friday, my daughter-in-law texted me to ask if I would make her a meatloaf. She'd had surgery a day or two earlier and wasn't up to cooking.  I did not mind making her a meatloaf - as a matter of fact, I should have done it without being asked -but I selfishly wondered if I would be able to do it in time to get my Friday night margarita freak on.  We'd missed two or three consecutive Friday margarita nights in a row, and I was especially looking forward to this one.

After work, I rushed to the grocery store for ingredients and then hurried home to start cooking.  By 4:15, I was pulling into her driveway to deliver the meal - meatloaf, creamed potatoes from scratch, green beans, rolls, and a store-bought cake for dessert - plenty of time left to come home, shower, dress, and be ready for dinner by 6.  Easy, peasy.  There was even time to prep the morning coffee and turn down the bed.

The Husband has been told not to let me have two margaritas at dinner, but he cannot be depended on to enforce it (as if he really could).  When the waiter asked if we wanted another margarita, I said, "YES!" and The Husband did not even remind me.  He'd had a tough week, and he wanted another one, too.  I don't know about him, but I could not have passed a field sobriety test when we left the restaurant.  Thankfully, we had a designated driver.  I went to bed as soon as we got home.  Woke up about 3 a.m. with a headache.  (Imagine that.)  Two Tylenols, big glass of water, back to bed.  

Yesterday morning wasn't nearly as nasty as I feared.

I wanted to just sit on the back porch and paint (or watch somebody else paint on YouTube) all day, but we had stuff to do.  Granddaughter #2 and family have gone with to an out-of-state band competition, and they needed us to go let the dogs out to pee.  We also needed to run by the hardware store for a switch for the dryer.  Since we were going to town, anyway, I decided to stop by the grocery store for a ham to bake.  I sent some to the post-surgical daughter-in-law and will take some to the post-band trip daughter-in-law later today.  There's enough left for our dinner tonight, plus some "nubs" for cooking with beans, which are soaking as I write.

I really, really want to paint today.  Friday I learned that the woman who teaches the painting class I was attending (back in the spring) lost a sister, a daughter, and a husband to separate illnesses, all in one month.  I want to paint a sympathy card for her.  It's probably going to take 14 tries before I get one that's reasonably nice.  And I'll probably screw that one up when I write the message inside.

Morning Edition - October 10, 2024

On a normal day, I would have been at work for almost an hour by this time, but there were complications.  The maintenance dude who usually unlocks my workroom had a meeting to attend at 7:00 this morning.  I could have gone in 30 minutes earlier to allow him time to let me in and get where he needs to be by7:00, but I did not want to go that early.  The meeting should be over by 10, at which time he will call/text me, and I'll drag my lazy butt to work.

In Phase II, Part 1, only a few boxes remain to be emptied and sorted.  I've peeked into them.  They mostly contain Part 2 files, but I'll have to go through them before I can finish Part 1, as there's some Part 1 stuff mixed in with the Part 2 stuff.  Imagine that.  :-/  

Of the original 20 boxes of unnumbered files, 5 boxes remain to be gone through.  Numbering the files myself is reducing the volume of "mystery files" by more than 50%; there should be about 6 boxes of files when I'm done.  Someone up the food chain will have to decide how to treat those files, but this will have to do it before I begin putting the files in numerical order, and I already know what's going to happen; they will drag their feet until I finally say, "Send them back to me."

I'm going to need more file cabinets.

Sunday afternoon - October 6, 2024

My nose has been full of stink for 3 days.

We just got home from a weekend at Pickwick Lake.  Business trip for The Husband.  In case you don't know, there's a paper mill in the neighborhood.  I don't know what its steam pipes are belching, but it stinks to high heaven.  Sulfur.  Rotten Eggs.  Whatever.  It smells the same way (with a hint of cleaner and such) inside the lodge.  When we got to our room, we opened the balcony door; the air outside smelled better.  Maybe it dissipates at certain times of the day.  I got a little nose-blind to it after we'd been there a while, but in the middle of the night Friday night, I woke up going, "GYAH!" and got up to open the balcony door to let some air in. IT WAS WORSE OUTSIDE.  I shut the door and smeared some perfume under my nose (didn't have any Vicks) and went back to bed. It did not work; I went nose blind to the perfume but not the funk.  

Saturday, while the meeting members were doing their business, I invited the footloose "plus ones" to go with me to an outdoor flea market up the road in a little town called "Crump."  It surprised me when three of them jumped at the chance.  We loaded up and went to Crump about 10:00.  The flea market is huge - both sides of the road.  We parked and made our way past the chickens and goats and such to the tables lined with STUFF.  One of the ladies is pushing 80, and she was wearing black pants and a pretty jacket.  I was trying to stick close to her to watch her.  When I found a rake handle that I wanted to buy and realized I was totally BROKE, I parked her on a bench under a tent by an ice-cream vendor, and I ran up the road to a quick stop to get some cash from the ATM.  When I got back, she was GONE. I found her inside the ice-cream shack, fanning under the air conditioner.  She'd almost fainted, and some thoughtful person had ushered her inside where it was cool.  I rounded up the other ladies and we got the fainter to the truck.  I wanted to drive her back to the lodge and then the other ladies and I were going to visit an indoor flea market.  The fainter revived and insisted that she was able to hang with us, and she did.  After we did the indoor market, we all went back to the lodge.  She was still doing fine at dinner that evening.  

This morning, the Husband and I high-tailed it out of there as early as we could.  

And came home to a grassy yard littered with limbs and sticks, courtesy of Helene, and a porch full of stinkbugs.  I went straight for the lawnmower as soon as I dumped my stuff in the house.  After showering off the yard dust and the sulfur smell, I came out to the porch and started vacuuming stinkbugs.  

And now my nose is full of stink again.

Phase II mini-victory - October 3,2024

Today I tackled boxes I'd been dreading.  Some of the boxes were in a creepy corner and underneath a big sheet of burnt metal.  (Don't ask me what it is or why it's there.)  Messing with the metal seemed risky for a lot of reasons, one of which is the large number of years it's been since I had a tetanus shot.  I dragged out as many boxes as I could without injuring myself.

One of the boxes was a gold mine.  It appeared to be the contents of a desk.  It was mostly personal stuff - 50-year-old newspaper clippings and such, but in it was also one of the old lost files I was asked to find.  It also contained photographs of a still-busting.  As in moonshine.  No clue where it happened, and not even a date on the photographs, but based on the clothing and vehicle styles, I'd guess it happened in the early 70's.  I could've dug around in that box for hours, but it wasn't the kind of stuff I needed, so I moved on.  

But I set that box aside for another day. ;)

Stinkbugs - October 2, 2024

I hope you haven't found this post by accident, looking for advice on how to deter/get rid of/kill stinkbugs.  If I knew, I'd tell you, but it would be a waste of time to continue reading.  

Modern science should invent a stinkbug that smells good.  I'm sure they'll get right on that, once they solve the mosquito thing. 

Anyway, we have tried all sorts of things, and yet here they are, crawling around (inside and outside) our back porch screens.  We keep a spray bottle of water/soap (with a hefty shot of bleach to give it some *sting*) on the back porch, and the first thing we do when we come out to the porch is start squirting. The squirter is set to "Stream."  It knocks some off, some fly away, away, but others are like, "Is that all you got?" If he's on the *inside* of the screen, the answer is, "No, as a matter of fact, it's not," and I fire up the old Dyson and suck him up.

(Don't try this in the house; the vacuum cleaner fan will blow stinkbug air.)

You would not believe how satisfying it is to hear (and feel) him go THWUMP down that vacuum cleaner hose.  

It doesn't kill them, though, it just pisses them off.  And they crawl around inside the cannister or bag, spewing stink. This Dyson has a clear canister; I can see them scurrying around inside it.  Hear them scratching, sometimes, or flying against the glass. I usually just leave them in there until the canister needs emptying, and then I dump them in a bucket of soapy water, where they drown.

Of course, then you have to deal with the bucket of stinkbug carcasses.

* * * * * *

I interrupt this post to report the results of an experiment that came to mind while I was writing about bleach in the stinkbug bottle.  I don't really like to put bleach in the spray.  Vinegar might be a good substitute.  I dumped what was in the bottle, washed it out, and made a 50/50 vinegar and water mix, with three or four squirts of dishwashing liquid.  Shook it up and came outside to try it out.  THEY HATE THIS VINEGAR/SOAP/WATER mix worse than they hated the bleach.   I stood there and watched them stagger and then fall to the ground, but I did not go outside to see if they laid there or staggered away.  

Community Garden Clean-up - September 30, 2024

Until this afternoon, I had not set foot in the community garden for about two months. First it was covid.  Then my knee went out.  Then The Husband had two surgeries.  And then it rained and rained and rained. I'd put the word out that I was under the weather, and that if anything in our plot was ready to pick and donate, anyone was welcome to do it.

I got to a good stopping place in the workroom about 2 this afternoon and decided to have a look at the garden.  I'd planted indeterminant tomatoes, and they've been revved up.  There were LOTS of spoiled tomatoes on the vines, 6.2 pounds (I weighed them) of green tomatoes, and a couple of squash.  After picking everything that could be picked, I pulled up the tomato vines, cut the basil WAY back (it's putting on new growth), pulled up the easy weeds, and hauled everything to the compost bin.  The ground is too wet to work or I would have chopped out all the weeds and scattered mustard seeds over the plot.   I hope to do that before the week is over.

Phase II is coming right along.  Still far from finished, but making real progress.

A whole 'nother day - September 29, 2024

So what did I do with it?

At the end of the day, not a whole heck of a lot.

We needed stuff.  Dishwasher pods. Coffee.  Butter.  I placed an online order with a pickup time between 1 and 2, thinking I'd leave early and go to the bakery, fill up my car with gas, run by a garden center.

Do you think I did all that?

NO.

I picked up the grocery order, picked up a pizza from a drive-thru joint, and high-tailed it home.

It rained, off and on, all afternoon.  I finished one book, started another.  Embroidered a few stitches on the 19th quilt block.

One more quilt block to embroider after this one, and then it will be time to decide how to put them together and how to quilt them.  My plan is to set the squares together with sashing.  The squares are pre-marked with quilting lines; it's the quilting method that has me in a quandary.  I'd like to hand quilt it, myself, but I'd also like to have it finished before the end of the century.  I could set up my short-arm quilting machine, but I have never been satisfied with any quilt I've done with that machine.  What I'd really like to do is an old-fashioned quilting bee, with family members around the frame. 

Maybe I could bribe some cousins with the promise of a margarita party when we're done. ;)

Saturday? - September 28, 2024

Is it Saturday?  It feels like Sunday, probably because I don't have a bit of a margarita hangover this morning.  ;)

Yesterday The Husband had a doctor visit (he's doing well), and I took off work to drive him.  The appointment was for noon.  It was raining cats and dogs when we left our house at 10:45. City driving makes me tense on a good day, but we made it to the doctor's office unharmed and on time.  A screw-up about bloodwork made the visit run late.  It was 5:00 (and still raining) by the time we got home.

We were both starving and would've enjoyed our Friday night Mexican dinner and a margarita, but because his doctor visit had involved light anesthesia, The Husband wasn't quite up to going out.  We made do with turkey sandwiches.

I got up this morning thinking it was Sunday, and didn't know any better until The Husband got up, turned on the TV, and CBS Sunday Morning wasn't on.  

It's kind of nice to add a whole 'nother day to the weekend.  ;)

Helene - September 27, 2024

Another hurricane has formed in the Gulf.  If I were anywhere near the coast, I'd have high-tailed it out of there two days ago, if I had the means to go.  We're getting rain from it this morning, a gentle rain like we would've enjoyed a month ago.  But the last hurricane brought us some rain, too - several days' worth - too late to do most of the farmers much good.  I hope all this moisture doesn't ruin what's left in the fields. Some of the corn has already been pulled.  Beans are not quite ready to cut.  Cotton is showing white, but not ready to pick.  

I'm off work today to take The Husband for a doctor visit.  He had outpatient surgery Tuesday (he's fine) and can't drive yet.  I dread dealing with city traffic in the rain.

Phase II didn't advance much this week.  Tuesday, I was off work for the surgery.  Wednesday, I worked from home.  Seriously.  I've been head-down, working on the files, for a month, during which time questions have arisen that nobody local can answer.  I spent Wednesday making calls, sending emails, and reading rules.  Not that it has done any good, so far.  No one has gotten back with me.  My "don't know what to do with this" pile grows ever larger.

Yesterday, when I turned on the workroom lights and surveyed the room, I wanted to turn around, go to Admin, and fill out my retirement paperwork.  But I've got a grandchild in college, and several more coming behind her, and I need to work until I'm 102.  So I put down my stuff and got busy.  It was a long day.  An hour before bedtime, I fixed myself a medicinal gin & tonic.  Got some gooooood sleep last night.  ;) 

And tonight is margarita night, if The Husband is up to it.

It's supposed to rain all weekend, I think.  Maybe I'll paint.

  

Benefits (continued) - September 24, 2024

The most interesting thing just happened.

I was sitting here on the back porch, doing a puzzle, when I heard what sounded like something falling through the trees, followed by a thump.  It sounded like something rather heavy had hit the ground.  I glanced over toward the woods, and listened, but didn't see or hear anything. No broken limb chunk.  No squirrel or possum or raccoon running away or lying senseless on the ground.  

Back to the puzzle.  Before I could get my head back in it, I noticed that the birds were going apeshit.  A group of them had gathered low in a tree at the edge of the gully and were squawking their heads off, and moving in unison from limb to limb.  

I bet what I heard was a snake dropping out of a tree, and the birds knew about it and were tracking it and sounding an alarm.  SNAKE!  SNAKE!

I'm not going over there.

And I hope it doesn't come over here.  :-\

The Benefits of Porch Sitting - September 23, 2024

The wind is blowing this afternoon.   Whirly-gigs whirling.   Wind chimes chiming.  Leaves falling from the trees.

And it made me think about how rare it is to see fall actually happening right in front of my eyes.  

* * * * * * * * 

We (mostly) finished our ant-extermination project yesterday.  

Saturday's watering experiment results (just two hills, to see if the short afternoon drizzle would do the watering) were mildly interesting.  There was no activity in those two hills.  The others?  A little crusty, no visible activity, but poke a stick through the crust and ants come pouring out.  So a little dampness does not do the trick.  

If you read yesterday's post, you already know that there was some (a-hem) discussion about how we were going to get water to the ant mounds down that l-o-n-g driveway.  The tractor idea reared its ugly head again, but in a different way.  In the garden shed there is a 20-gallon tank that fits in the tractor bucket.  The Husband had not considered it Saturday because of some issue with the sprayer nozzle, but Sunday he decided that we could pump the water into a watering can (to achieve the "gentle sprinkle"), and he could drive around behind me while I watered the mounds.  I asked why we couldn't put the tank on the tailgate of the truck so that *I* could drive while HE watered the mounds.  Nix that idea; the tank pump operates off the tractor battery.

So we watered.  He drove the tractor, I walked and watered.  And me with a bad knee.  

I did not use the watering can; I put my thumb over the nozzle-less hose to achieve the "gentle sprinkle," but I gently sprinkled each mound until I could see tunnels, and then sprinkled a little more.  Some of the mounds never did show tunnels; they seemed more like "excavation piles" than inhabited mounds.  

We used SIXTY GALLONS of water.  

And we were about ready to throttle one another by the time we got to the end of the driveway.  

But we held our tongues.  Mostly.  ;)

As I was limping back towards Nanny's house, The Brother-in-Law came zooming down the driveway to mow her yard with his big monster mower.  I'd already texted him not to mow down the mounds.  He stopped and said he'd been mowing them down - "probably started a new colony everywhere the sumbitches landed," he said - but he promised he would not do so that day.

Later that day, The Husband said his left leg was a little sore from all the clutching.  

I just snarled.   ;)

I said "mostly" finished earlier because we had one other ant-related chore that we did not do.  We bought a bag of granules meant to be broadcast around the yard rather than applied directly to the mounds. But by the time the watering was done, my bad knee had had it.  Done.  Finis.  I put the granules and the spreader back in the shed. "Tomorrow's another day."

But today was a workday.  And it's raining again.

I finally got some face time today with the dude in charge, to have him lay eyes on some stuff, and to tell him I suspect we're missing some boxes and he should have someone check the attic again.  It would probably be smarter to check the attic, myself, before I start the numerical ordering.  But I'd have to climb a ladder to do it.

*Snarl*

 

)#(@*! Fire Ants - September 22, 2024

Friday night at dinner with The Sister-in-Law and Brother-in-Law, we learned that fire ants are once again taking over Nanny's yard.  Until this summer, The Husband and I did the yard-mowing for Nanny, and we stayed on top of the fire ant problem.  Every time we'd see a new hill pop up, we'd dose it with fire ant granules or some home-made treatment. Nothing solved the problem - the survivors will just start a new colony elsewhere - but it kept them at somewhat at bay.  But, for some unknown reason, the B-i-L took it upon himself to do the mowing at Nanny's this summer.  Since The Husband and I haven't been all over the yard as we've done in past years, the ants have had a field day in our absence.  At dinner, the B-i-L said he mowed over about 20 ant hills last weekend.  We said know the routine and would do something about the problem.

So late yesterday morning, we got on it.  

We had a large bag of "mound destroyer" left over from last year.  The package directions said to sprinkle the granules on the mound, then drench the mound (very gently) with a gallon or so of water.  You've read mentions of Nanny's l-o-n-g driveway; this is mostly where the ants are.  (I guess they're running from the farming of the surrounding fields.)  How are we to get water to the mounds all the way down that driveway, except with a watering can?  And each mound requires a whole can full.  

The Husband came up with a plan.  He said he'd fill the tractor bucket with water and drive behind me as I dosed the hills.

I saw a problem with this plan the instant he voiced it.  Visions flashed through my mind; water sloshing out of the bucket as the tractor moved; me, trying to fill up a watering can (it "gently sprinkles") from buckets; The Husband, seated on the tractor, while I did the work.  

And me with a bad knee.  

My thoughts must have shown on my face, for before I could open my mouth in protest, he started to back-track.  Maybe we could fill 5-gallon buckets with water and set them in the tractor bucket, he said. I said maybe we could set them on the tailgate of his truck, since I know how to drive the truck.

We ended up tabling the water issue until we'd put granules on all the mounds.  But we ran out of granules before we got to all the hills (there were far more than 20).  To finish the job, we'd have to get more ant stuff.  It was well after noon by then, and we had plans to attend a grandchild event that evening.  A trip to the store and back would cost us an hour, then we'd have to finish treating the mounds and then do the watering, and shower and dress in time to be at our event.  We decided to tack the trip to the store onto the front end of the grandchild event and finish the ant-eradication job today. 

Nanny had walked with us to help spot mounds, and she overheard our discussion.  She hadn't known about the great-grandchild (to her) event, and her feelings were a little hurt.  The Husband invited her to go with us, and she accepted.  We picked her up a little after 5.

The event we were attending was a "band showcase," where the marching bands from each of the county's three high schools were to perform their halftime shows.  The first band was to take the field at 7:30. Considering the parking issue, we knew we'd best get there by 6:30 or risk walking a mile to the stadium.  

It turned out that we'd left the house way too early.  We'd come up with several errands to run before the band event, but they had not taken as long as we'd expected.  To kill time, and because nobody had eaten, we stopped at Sonic for drinks and snacks.  Nanny ordered a hot dog, which she smeared with mustard, which she later discovered had dripped onto her pants and shirt.  She was mortified to have to go out in public with mustard on her clothes and berated herself all the way to the stadium.

The band showcase was very enjoyable to old band parents like us.  Two of the county's bands are very large and impressive, and when they turn those horns toward the stands and let loose full blast, it'll give you chills.  Every parent, grandparent, and great-grandparent in the place applauded and cheered for the "other" bands as heartily as they did for their own.  And the band kids, not competing for titles and trophies on this occasion, mixed and mingled like old friends.  It was heart-warming.

I had hoped to draw and paint today, but we've still got ant destruction on the agenda.  We bought TWO more big bags of ant stuff - one mound destroyer, one to broadcast with a spreader.  We know we're fighting a losing battle, as there are ant mounds all over the fields that we won't be able to treat, but maybe we can keep them at bay for a little while.

We may not have SO many mounds to water today.  It sprinkled here yesterday afternoon, maybe enough to wet the mounds, maybe not.  Yesterday, started an experiment; I watered just two of the mounds with a watering can, and today I am going to disturb the mounds to see if ants come streaming out, and if there is a difference between the ones I watered and the ones I didn't.  If the rain was enough to do the job, we'll only have to water the mounds that we treat today (fingers crossed).  But I already know one thing:  if we have to water them all, I'm doing the driving.  ;)