Drunk blogging - August 30,2024

I had TWO margaritas tonight.

My whole face is numb.

In a good way. :-)

This has been an awful week, work-wise.  I am working in an un-air-conditioned space.  There are houseflies and horseflies.  Yesterday I took a can of bug spray to work with me and offed a few of them before they could kill me.  The one bathroom available to me is used by maintenance guys and other men in the building.  There is no lock on the door.  I haven't even looked in there, but I can already bet that it's the nastiest bathroom in the county.  I come home from work each day, drenched with sweat, half dehydrated, and just about to pee on myself.   

If I had my phone to hand, I'd show you the room I'm working in.  Piles of boxes of files.  I am to organize the files numerically, by case number.  Probably 20% of the files don't even have case numbers on them.  It's going to be a nightmare.  There is very little floor space to set up work tables.  All I know to do is start putting files in the cabinets by years, and then once I have some work space cleaned out, I'll have to empty the file cabinets onto tables and start the sorting process.

This is going to take months, if not years.  

So, tonight I am on the back porch, blissfully tipsy, listening to the night bugs and the wind blowing through the trees, hoping for rain.

We are terribly dry.

Yesterday evening, The Husband called on his way home from work, having had to pull over, less than 20 miles from the house, because it was raining so hard. We barely got a drop here.

But I hear thunder in the distance, and there's wind.  Hopefully, we will get more than a drop over the weekend.

I should go to bed before this buzz wears off.

Phase II sucks - August 28. 2024

Phase II has not officially begun, yet; I am finishing up Phase I in the Phase II workspace.  This was not supposed to happen, but it did, because some people are idiots and other people won't correct the idiots' mistakes.   But I digress.

The Phase II workspace is un-air-conditioned and un-heated.  It has flies.  And horseflies.  And spiders, and probably anything else you could guess.  For the past two days, I've gone in early and worked until I couldn't take the heat.  Progress will be slow at this pace.

Instead of alphabetizing, this time I'll be putting things in numerical order.  Such fun.

And I am not quite back to myself after covid.  Not much stamina.

The vegetable garden is in desperate need of water.  The okra needs cutting.  If I can talk The Husband into helping me, I might take care of that tonight.

Or not.

Somewhat - August 26, 2024

I went to work this morning, expecting to finish Phase 1 of the records organization project.  When I flipped on the light switch, the room was as I had left it last Monday.  No new work.  When the records lady came in, she said that they'd taken the records to the building where Phase II is to happen.  I gathered my stuff, turned in my key-fob, and left.  

I am not looking forward to Phase II.  It is to be done in a building with no heat, no air-conditioning, and probably varmints, both dead and alive.  Spiders for sure.  Maybe snakes.  Who knows what else.  As of today, nothing is ready for me to work on.  Boxes are piled 10 feet high on top of empty file cabinets.  Today they're supposed to get it all down where I can get to it.  Tomorrow, we'll see whether or not they've done it.

After I left, I went to the transmission shop where the Wrangler was worked on.  The owner of the shop told me to drive the Wrangler for a couple of weeks, then bring it and let him drive it.  It's done ok, so far, except that there was a time or two when it acted like it wanted to do the old rattle, but it got over it.  The transmission guy drove it and said it's fine.  It has a one-year warranty.  

After that, I had to go to a shipping store.  Last week, I ordered some cookware for Granddaughter #1, who is now living in an off-campus apartment with three other girls.  Although I was prepared to swear on a stack of Bibles that I'd had the cookware shipped straight to her apartment, it came here. Cost me $45 bucks to ship it. Good grief.

My morning of "doing around" has worn me out.  I guess I'm not quite as "back" from covid as I thought I was.  

Covid Day 4 - August 23, 2024

 Not gonna lie; it hasn't been a fun week.  Still, I figure I got off light.

It started in the wee hours of Tuesday morning.  24 hours of mid-grade fever.  Headache.  Achy joints.  Digestive issues.  Head full of snot.  Cough.  Tired.  I confined myself to the back porch and a spare bedroom.

By the wee hours of Wednesday morning, the fever was gone, but all the other symptoms hung in.  

I feel much, much better today.  Ghost of a headache, tummy ok.  Still snotty.  

Here's a weird thing:

Monday morning, before I knew I was getting sick, my left knee got sore for no apparent reason.  Hadn't strained or bumped it or anything.  It was fine when I went to bed Sunday night, but when I rolled out of bed Mondy morning and took that first step with my left leg, I nearly screamed with pain.  The knee stayed sore all week, until today, when everything else got better.

I'll take it.

Oh, no! - August 21, 2024

After Monday afternoon's gardening chores, I was uncommonly tired.  I showered, nuked a hot dog, and was in bed by 9:00.

I woke up in the night, shivering.  Got up and checked my temperature.  Sure enough, I was running a fever.  

I can't remember the last time I had a fever.

Yesterday morning, I dug out a covid test.  It was positive.

I could not believe it.  After all the times I'd been exposed to covid and had not caught it, I thought I had a natural immunity, or something.

I spent the morning disinfecting the house, washing bedclothes, etc., and then went to bed in a spare bedroom.  Thinking it might be best to let the fever have its way with me (as long as it wasn't too high), I did not take any medicine to lower it.  Some time in the night last night, the fever broke.  When I checked my temperature this morning, it was normal.

I still have a headache.  My joints hurt.  And if I suddenly cough or sneeze, a change of underwear will be required.  

Is it too early to hope the worst is over?

Fertilized and Watered - August 19, 2024

Yesterday morning, as we were on our way home from church, The Brother-in-Law texted me about the okra and purple hull peas I'd offered him Saturday.  He came for them when he got home and pretended that he hadn't expected shelled peas.  I told him I'd threatened to leave a 5-gallon bucket of unshelled peas on his front porch.  He said he knew how to shell peas and would've enjoyed shelling them.  

I wonder how he well he would enjoy picking them, for they're about to need picking again.  

We didn't eat his okra.  

I cooked a "mess" of peas for The Husband and me, and made mackerel patties out of filets that The S-I-L and B-I-L caught on their Florida vacation last year.  In general, I don't like fish and have been moving this vacuum-sealed package all around the freezer.  While looking for a meat to serve with our peas, I saw that fish and figured it was now or never, as they say.  The skin peeled right off.  I chopped it, mixed it with some stuff, and fried the patties in a little olive oil.  They were good.  For fish.

After work today, I weeded and fertilized the butterbeans, the southernpeas, and the new squash, then I watered the whole garden, except for the "new" purple hull peas.    The fertilizer was some kind of organic stuff that smelled like it has poop in it.  Maybe it'll do some good.  

Note to self:  do another soil test soon.

When I arrived at work today, the workers had taken away the things I asked them to move, but they did not bring down the rest of the boxes.  What they left were 4 boxes of 2001 alphabetized reports and one box of 2001 reports that they'd missed on the first go-'round.  It took nearly all day to work that one box into the 4 boxes.  When I left, I told the records lady to email me when the rest of the boxes have been brought down.  I hope they don't bring them for days.

Orchids - August `18, 2024

Yesterday morning I went to the garden, intending to fertilize the butterbeans and see if the okra needed cutting.  I did not get around to fertilizing.  While cutting the okra, I noticed that the purple hull peas needed picking.  Nanny came out and insisted on helping me pick the peas.  We picked two 5-gallon buckets nearly full.  

Most of the time, Nanny shells the peas, but this time I brought them home to shell.  "Your son needs something to do," I said to Nanny.  She didn't argue.  The Husband and I knocked them out fairly quickly.  They yielded 4 quarts of peas.  

A lot of the okra was too big to use for anything but a sword.  There were enough "just right" pods to fool with pickling them.  I soaked the pods in pickling lime overnight and will pickle them today.   Some other pods were too tall for a pint jar but not too tough to fry.  I offered this okra to The Brother-in-Law, along with a quart of shelled peas.  He didn't come get them yesterday.  If he hasn't come by about 5:00 this evening, I'm frying his okra for supper.

I spent some of the afternoon trying to paint phalaenopsis orchid blooms.

Several years ago, I painted Eugene the Jeep on a spare tire cover for The Sister-in-Law.  She loved it.  Over the years, it faded somewhat, and a couple of years ago she replaced the vinyl tire cover with a metal (or fiberglass?) one.  She has missed Eugene, for he garnered her lots of waves and thumbs-ups from other Jeep drivers.

About the time I painted the tire cover for The S-I-L, I painted one for my Wrangler.  This design was a quilt block, a pattern called "Diamond Star," which I was in the process of piecing.  It, too, has faded, and it has zillions of tiny slits in it from where Lucy the Cat (rest her soul) used it as a climbing assistant to get onto the Jeep's roof.  

My Wrangler (which I named "Eugene" the day I got it, 20+ years ago) just had his transmission rebuilt, and I'm intent on driving it before the weather turns cold.  The Husband gave me a new set of seat covers for my birthday, which we haven't installed yet.   We've removed the carpet (but haven't put it back in yet) and painted the floor pan.  Since we've done all this "spiffing up" to the Jeep, it's time for a new tire cover, with Eugene on it, now that the original Eugene tire cover has been retired.  

The original Eugene was nothing but Eugene, standing on his hind legs, against a circular background. I want mine to be a little different.  Friday afternoon, I said to The Husband (who has a little more imagination than I), "Think of something I can make Eugene do."  A little while later, he came out to the back porch and asked, "Did you know that Eugene eats orchids?"

WHAT?  NO!  I had not known that.  

Problem solved: there will be orchids in the new Eugene design!

I drew the design in a sketch book, then enlarged it on the back side of some Christmas wrapping paper (the only paper in the house as big as a tire).  Then I spent the rest of the afternoon getting up close and personal with orchids, so that I'll know how to paint them when my new tire cover gets here this week.

 

I went to work yesterday - August16, 2024

When I got to work yesterday, the workroom was just as I had left it on Monday, same old boxes stacked high in the corner, no new ones.

There was no reason for me to stay, so I left, and went to check on our community garden plot.  There were some ripe tomatoes on the vines.  I picked them and put them in the donation box, and came home.

The Husband seemed a little stir-crazy.  Still sore from his surgery, but moving around well once he was on his feet, he wandered from room to room, to the back porch, and inside again (it was suffocatingly hot).  Earlier in the week, I'd received an email from the pottery class I attended last month, letting me know that my masterpieces had been fired and were ready for pickup.  I'd intended to go get them Saturday, but seeing The Husband's restlessness, I asked if he was up for a ride to the pottery place.  He said he was, so we made the drive.

The pottery pieces came out of the kiln undamaged, but they look smaller than I remembered.  My largest bowl looks shorter, and thicker in the bottom.  I asked a cousin who has pottery experience if pieces can "slump" while they dry, and her reply was that pottery can "do all sorts of things" while drying.  

They didn't mention that in the "introduction to the potter's wheel" class.  :-\

I shall be heading to work soon.  If they have not done what I asked and brought down the rest of the boxes, I will be coming right back home.

I don't want to go to work today - August 15, 2024

A text message woke me before the coffee pot started this morning.   Since Granddaughter #1 was scheduled to start her drive back to college today, I got up to read the text, worried that she might need something.  The message was from the telephone company, advising that the bill had been paid.  :-|

Once I'm up, there ain't no going back to bed.

I planned to go back to work today, and I will, but I don't want to. 

The end of Phase 1 of the records organization project is in sight.  Before I left work Monday, I told them to take away the work I'd finished and bring down the rest of the boxes.  There's no telling what's waiting for me. Ordinarily, I would have been at work by now, but here I sit on the back porch, still in my nightgown, sipping tepid coffee and listening to the birds.

I don't want to go to work.  Yesterday I started painting Christmas cards.  They are spread out on the kitchen table in various stages of completion.  I'd like to finish them and start more, while the mood lasts.

Yesterday I also went to the dollar store for two big bags of dirt to put in the cold frame.  The lady who works at the DG is about the grouchiest person on the planet.  If she smiled, her face would crack.  Her attitude is understandable, for most of the time she is in the store alone, trying to stock the shelves AND ring up sales at the cash register.  She was stocking shelves about the time I was ready to check out.  As she headed for the cash register, I said, "Oh, wait...do you still have potting soil?"  She led me to the garden aisle.  I said out loud, but more or less to myself, "I need two of those big bags," and the DG lady moved to get it.  I said, "Wait, let me get a cart!" and as I came back with the buggy, I said, "I didn't mean for YOU to get it, I was just talking to myself,"  And she said, rather smartly, "Well, you don't have any business lifting it, anyway."  

I said, "I'm probably as strong as you are!," to which she replied, "Yeah, but I'm a lot younger than you."

I straightened myself up and said, "I beg your pardon."  

She said, "Well, it's the truth."

Some things you can't argue.

But the heifer didn't offer to load the bags into my car after she rang up the sale.  ;)

When I came home from DG, I went straight to the garden to plant some seeds.  The cucumber vines are about to croak, and I still need to make pickles.  Sunday's watering and yesterday's rain have encouraged new blooms, but they likely won't make enough cucumbers for pickles, so I planted new cucumber seeds between the existing plants.  I also poked some cabbage seeds in the ground between the pepper plants.  

I spent the rest of the afternoon painting Christmas cards.  Which reminds me . . . .

I don't want to go to work. 

But I will.

  

A long day - August 14, 2024

The Husband was scheduled for some outpatient surgery yesterday at a hospital 50 miles away.   Because we had to be there at 5:30 a.m., we spent Monday night at my sister's house, since she lives only 5 minutes from the hospital.  The Husband went to work Monday, so my niece was kind enough to pick me up at my house Monday afternoon and deliver me to her mother's house so that we would not have two cars to deal with.  The surgery went well, and we came home, as planned, mid-afternoon.

There was one scary moment for me.  Before he was taken to surgery, The Husband gave me his rings.  One of them was his original wedding ring, a plain gold band, which had also been his father's original wedding ring.  The other was another gold band, studded with a few small diamonds, that I had given him as an anniversary present more than 20 years ago.  I put the "new" band on my left hand.  The old band was too small to fit over the arthritic knuckle on my right hand, so I put it on my right-hand pinkie.  Not long before The Husband came back to the room, I noticed that his father's ring was gone from my right hand.

I nearly had a conniption.  If I had to lose one of the rings, I'd have preferred to have lost the new one, not his daddy's ring.  

I'd been to the cafeteria.  I'd been out to the truck.  No telling where I'd lost the ring.  It could have slipped off my finger anywhere.  I dug between the cushions of the hospital recliner where I'd been sitting and came up with a penny and half a pack of Juicy Fruit gum.  I looked in the garbage can, where I'd thrown paper towels after washing my hands.  Finally, I emptied my schlepping bag, where I'd hunted for a pencil, and there the ring was, in the bottom of the bag, with some loose change, a screw off the tiller, and a dusty Rolaid tablet.  Whew...thank goodness!

We were both so tired when we got home.  The Husband took to his recliner and dozed, off and on, all afternoon.  I would have done the same, except that day-time naps ruin my night-time sleep, so I kept moving until 8:50 p.m., when I pronounced it bedtime.  I slept hard, but still heard the coffee pot chirp at 5:50 this morning when it finished brewing.

It's raining today, which we needed, and which was to be expected since I'd spent two hours watering the vegetable garden on Sunday.  :-\

While watering the garden, I'd noticed that the new purple hull peas were ready for their first picking, but the watering was more crucial, and by that time the ground was soupy, and I figured I'd have time to pick them Monday afternoon before going to my sister's house.  That picking did not happen, but Nanny got them yesterday morning and shelled them while she waited nervously by the telephone for a surgery update.  These peas - only two rows - were planted mid-June, just as the first four rows, planted in May, were about ready for their first picking.  The first picking of these two new rows yielded TWICE what the original four rows had made for their first picking, and they were not bothered by lice like the first ones.  But Nanny and I had mostly lost the battle with the grass in the first rows by the time they were ready to pick, so they might have been handicapped by the competition.  After I pulled up the first peas and planted the butterbeans, I carpeted the whole garden with landscape fabric, which has virtually eliminated the weeding.  

I took off work today to be around for The Husband after his surgery.  He's doing fine and really doesn't need a sitter.  Except for the rain, I could be in the garden, fertilizing the butterbeans, and yanking up the yellowed cucumber vines and planting new seeds in their place.  When it quits raining, I may brave the mud enough to poke some cabbage seeds between the pepper plants, and then I might get out the watercolor paints and work on some paintings I've abandoned.  

I guess I could actually go to work, but . . .  nah.  ;)

Orange Pigs and Canned Tomatoes - August 11, 2024

Last week, on our way home from somewhere, The Husband and I stopped at our neighborhood Dollar General for toilet paper, or something, and on a sale table up front, there was a silicon mold in the shape of twelve fat pigs, designed for making pigs in blankets.  The box was marked $10.  I thought it was the most wonderful thing.  But by the time I spotted it, The Husband was already zipping his debit card for the purchase, and we walked out of the store without the mold.  

As soon as we got in the car, I regretted not getting it.  I make pigs in blankets about twice a year - once for our Christmas Eve get-together with the family, and once for the Super Bowl.  The grandkids would get a kick out of a pig-shaped pig in a blanket.  I ran back in the store and bought it, and to my delight, it rang up at only $3.75.  SCORE!

I came straight home, dug out some frozen cocktail sausages, and made pigs in blankets that very evening.  They were adorable.

Yesterday, the grandkids were coming over, so I decided to use the mold for jello jiggler pigs.  I would've preferred pink pigs, but orange jello was all I had in the pantry.  It was OK, though, for orange is one of The Granddaughters' school colors.  ;)    

Fail.  Although they look mostly intact, most of their heads separated from their bodies when I tried to get them out of the mold.  (I have never successfully un-molded anything made from jello!)  

Still, the grandkids, ranging in ages from 19 to 3, got a kick out of the pigs.  So I guess it wasn't a total failure.

The grandkids were here for a sort of "going-away party" for Granddaughter #1, who is going back to college this week.  I'd texted invitations to everyone in the family, including the folks on the hill.  The Nephew was the first to arrive.  He lives with Nanny, but came without her.  When we asked where Nanny was, he said she was at home, crying, because she thought she wasn't invited.  I double-checked my text message; I'd included her, and she'd even replied, "Hi."  When another nephew arrived, he walked down to Nanny's and cajoled her into coming to the party.  When she got here, I told her I'd included her in the text.  She thinks it must've gotten mixed in with a group text from her church ladies.

I'd ordered pulled pork barbeque and fixings from a local BBQ joint to make the party easy on myself.  We were also going to grill smoked sausages for the kids, but ended up cooking them in the air-fryer, instead.  (They were delicious cooked that way.)  I made a peach cobbler, served with ice cream, for dessert.  

The weather was absolutely wonderful.  The kids played outside on the swings and ran around the yard playing hide-and-seek.  The Sons brought their guitars, and we sat on the back porch and played and sang and had a big time.  Everyone left here full and happy.  

It was a good party.  :)

Today, it is still remarkably cool for August.  Since I did not spend yesterday cooking all day, I worked in the yard and in the vegetable garden until mid-afternoon, so yesterday's yardwork list for today is far shorter.  The one thing I didn't get around to was watering the vegetable garden.  It is in dire need of water.  

Nanny just tooted her car horn as she left for church.  I think I'll go do the watering before she gets home.  ;)

* * * * * * * * 

The garden has been thoroughly watered.  While I was watering peas and okra, The Husband picked the ripe tomatoes and squash.  There was a big colander bowl full of tomatoes.  I scalded, chopped, and cooked them.  Four pints are in the canner right now.  

I have been fooling with these blasted tomatoes since March, when I planted the seeds.  No telling how many hours we've spent nurturing and planting and fertilizing and weeding.

Four pints.

So far.

 

Yardwork - August 10, 2024

I had TWO (small) margaritas last night, and came home and went straight to bed, and went straight to sleep, and slept all night, except for the 2 a.m. nature walk.  

I needed that.

We always ride to the Mexican restaurant with The Husband's Sister-and-Brother-in-Law (the B-I-L is always the designated driver).  When everybody gets home, texts go to flying.  Last night, when I texted the S-I-L that we were ready when they were, she said, "I need to dry my hair.  Will text when we're on our way."

They live within sight of our house. When she sends an "On our way!" text, they get here before the text does.  I figured we had a good 10 minutes before they drove up (she has thick hair), but I put on my shoes, got my purse, and went outside to watch for them.  While I waited, I walked around the yard to check on some perennials I planted a week or two ago.  In the process, I noted a thousand things that need to be done in this yard.  

This would be a really good day for yardwork.  It is remarkably cool (for August), and the humidity is low.  But I have other things to do today.  We promised to work on Nanny's back porch today, and a dozen or more people will be showing up here for dinner about 5:00.  

The yardwork will have to wait until tomorrow.

Planning a Picking - August 9,2024

Granddaughter #1 will be heading to college next week.  Tomorrow evening, we're having a family get-together so everyone can visit with her before she leaves.  I've ordered a pork shoulder, baked beans, and slaw from a local bbq joint.  The Sons have been told to bring their guitars for some back-porch picking.

I had a lot to do today.  

The first thing on my list was a stop at the community garden to drop off some vegetables from our personal garden and pick what's ready in our community garden plot, all of which would be donated to the food bank.  I am proud of what the community garden has accomplished in its first year.  So far, gardeners have donated over 2,000 pounds of fresh vegetables.  Our plot has donated 20+ pounds, some of which came from our personal garden.  

I finished up Year - whatever number it is - today and had a planning session with the records clerk.  They're going to bring down the rest of what's in the attic next week, and haul away the boxes that I've finished.  The end of this phase of the project is in sight.

However . . . . 

The next thing I have to tackle is a BIG room full of boxes.  They're stacked on top of empty file cabinets, several boxes deep.  I'll need some procured muscle to get them down; my creaky, clumsy ass has no business on a ladder.  

There's no telling what kinds of creatures live in that room.  And there's no heat or air-conditioning, just a monstrous big fan that will probably blow papers everywhere.

When I finished my work, I went to get the Wrangler out of hock.  It's been at the transmission shop for over a month.  I paid the bill and got the keys.  We'll go get it tonight or tomorrow.  (Not tonight, actually, for it's MARGARITA NIGHT).

After that, I went to the grocery store for back-porch-pickin' night.  Forgot half of the stuff I meant to get.  I'll go back tomorrow in the Wrangler.  :)

Fall Garden - August 8, 2024

This evening, the community garden "plot partners" met at the local Extension Office to talk about planting fall garden plots.  There were free seeds, but I didn't take any; I'd already bought my seeds.  I did sign the county mayor's office up to have a plot next year. 

I will probably just plant mustard greens in our plot.  It will be a while before I'm ready to pull up the tomatoes.  Last week - or maybe the week before - I planted three hills of summer squash, and they will probably be producing until nearly time for frost.  

After the meeting, I went down to Nanny's to check on our garden.  The Southernpeas I planted last week have started to come up.  The squash looks like it's about done.  The butterbeans have runners on them and are grabbing hold of the fence.  The tomatoes look awful and probably ought to be pulled up.  The same goes for the cucumbers. The okra is being stingy with blooms.  But the two late rows of purple hull peas will need picking in the next few days.  Everything needs water, and there's no rain in next week's forecast.  Looks like I'll have to drag out the waterhose this weekend.

Cool spell - August 7, 2024

The hurricane that poured rain on the southeast coast must have sucked away some of our heat, for it has been right pleasant today, a little overcast, a little windy.  Occasional wind gusts make it rain crape myrtle blooms in the back yard.  Since it's not sweltering hot, I ought to go check on the garden this evening to see if anything needs picking and if the new pea seeds are up.  

But I'm tired. I was on my feet today for nearly 8 straight hours, sorting papers on a table.

I started Project Year 13 yesterday, and as I was doing the first A-B-C sort, I noticed that Year 12 documents were mixed in with the Year 13 documents.  After an expletive-filled rant (which nobody heard because nobody was there yet), I un-sorted, pulling out the Year 12 records, when I then had to sort, alphabetize, and file in the Year 12 boxes.

Half of yesterday was lost to Uncle B's funeral.  The Husband was drafted to read the obituary at the beginning of the service.  A local musician who attends Uncle B's church played the guitar and sang (at Uncle B's request) I Want to Go Home.  We followed the hearse to the cemetery; in small towns in the South, on-coming traffic still pulls over and stops out of respect for a funeral procession.  After the burial, there was a dinner for the funeral-goers at the church fellowship hall, put on by the church ladies.  

We came home and collapsed into our recliners and watched a couple of episodes of Bridgerton.  I love the costumes and the stories, though there is w-a-a-a-ay too much heavy breathing for this old lady's tastes.  Good thing I have something to distract me.  

I've been embroidering quilt blocks at night, while the TV is on.  It all started with a $10 package of stamped quilt blocks I bought at an indoor flea market while we were traveling in April.  I thought there were 12 blocks in the package, and that they'd be enough to make a bed-sized quilt (with some creative sashing) for Granddaughter #3.  But when I opened the package, there were only six blocks (a fact that was written on the package, if I'd only paid attention).  Luckily, they are available online, so I ordered six more and then realized I needed TWENTY to make a quilt as big as I wanted to make. 

When I started the first block, on a whim, I embroidered the date - April 20th, if my memory is correct.  We were in the car, driving to our next destination, and I said to The Husband, "Let's see how long it takes me to finish this," and when I finished it, I embroidered that date, as well, and started the next one.  It turned out that I have either started or finished a block on a date that is significant in some way - like somebody's birthday.  I'm now working on #14, which I started it on Granddaughter #2's birthday.  

I can just see the finished quilt in my mind, but I'm not quite sure how I'm going to get there.  I would like to hand quilt it - a pretty quilting pattern is also stamped on the blocks - but I'd also like to get it done in this lifetime.  I'd rent time on a long-arm, if I could find one they'd let me drive (repetitive, computerized quilting is out of the question for this one). 

But I'll have to put the thing together, first, which will require a shopping trip.  

Birthday cake - August 4, 2024

We typically make a big deal out of birthdays in this family.  Cake.  Parties and presents.  The whole bit. I am particularly keen on acknowledging birthdays ON THE DAY, even if the parties are scheduled for more convenient dates.  

Today is Granddaughter #2's birthday.  As of 5 p.m. yesterday, there had been no word of a birthday party.  

Part of the reason for this may be that her father was diagnosed with COVID early this week.  He has been fever-free for several days, but there are others in the house who may/may not be contagious.  Or it may be that #2, a young teen, is, like, totally OVER birthday parties at which aging grandparents and younger cousins are typically the only guests.  

If there had been a birthday party, we would have to have shown up without her present.  I ordered her some earrings over a week ago.  They have not arrived, and although I received an email two days ago that said the earrings have been shipped, there is ZERO information about their whereabouts at the "track my package" link.  

So, no party, and no present from us ON THE DAY.  

Sad.  Probably sadder for me than for the birthday girl.

Nevertheless, yesterday afternoon, I texted my daughter-in-law to ask if #2 wants a birthday cake.  Already in my pantry was a box of devil's food cake mix, and I had the eggs and sugar and vanilla necessary for 7-minute frosting.  I wouldn't even have to go to the store.

"She said she'd love one," my D-I-L replied.  

When I asked if a devil's food cake with 7-minute frosting would suffice, the reply was, "She said she doesn't like chocolate cake."

Knowing #2, she was probably holding out for an Orange Crush Cake, which she has requested for her past few birthdays.  

I am sick of making Orange Crush Cakes.  Although it would require a trip to the grocery store, I said I'd see if I could find my recipe for Key Lime Cake. 

I could not find the recipe (which I was almost certain was hand-written on the back page of an old cookbook), but I found one online and went to the grocery store for the ingredients.  They had no key limes or key lime juice.  Regular old lime juice would have to do.  I bought enough limes to squeeze out the necessary 1/4 cup of juice. 

I came straight home and made the cake layers.  They came out of the pans without sticking, thanks to parchment paper linings in the bottoms of the pans, and are wrapped up on the kitchen table, awaiting frosting.  

Bonus:  there was enough extra lime juice to produce home-made margaritas once the baking was done.  ;)

This morning, butter and cream cheese are softening on salad plates on the back porch. Frosting coming up!

I'm not sure that we will even go in the house when we deliver the cake and the promise of a present.  Covid is sneaky, and everybody in the house may be contagious without knowing it.  The Husband has an appointment next week that he cannot miss, and he doesn't need to catch a bug right now.  So we may ring the doorbell, hand off the cake, blow kisses, and run, and may repeat the process when the birthday present finally arrives.

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Before I stirred up the birthday cake, I made a dip recipe that I'd somehow run across while searching for the cake recipe. It is a baked Vidalia onion dip.  Here's the recipe, with my tweaks:

1 Vidalia onion, chopped and sauteed in a bit of butter or olive oil

2 cloves of garlic (I used 3), added to onions just before they come off the stove

8 oz of cream cheese, softened

1 cup of shredded Monterey Jack cheese (I used Pepper Jack)

1 cup of shredded Parmesan cheese

1/2 cup of mayonnaise

Chopped parsley to taste

1/2 cup of chopped cooked bacon (can use it as a topping, but I stirred mine right into the dip)

(The official recipe left out the bacon but added chopped pecans or crumbled crackers as a topping.)

Stir everything together well and spoon into a casserole dish.  Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes, or until bubbly.  Serve with crackers (or whatever).

YUM!  I had it on toast for breakfast this morning.  ;)

SOUTHERNpeas planted - August 3, 2024

It's pushing 2 p.m., and I have been working in the yard and the garden since before the dew dried off the grass.  Ran the weeder.  Cut back some phlox and daylilies.  

The "southernpeas" are planted.  The seeds look kinda like Holstein cows - black and white spots.  I planted three 10-12-foot rows, and did an experiment.  After I dropped the seeds in two of the rows, I walked on them before I covered them up to give them good contact with the soil beneath them.  The other row I just covered with soil.  We'll see which row(s) do best.

On a sad note, Uncle B, who lived across the road from us, died last night.  He was 93 and had been remarkably healthy, physically and mentally, until the past year or so.  When I visited with him a couple of weeks ago, he seemed very tired, but he knew who I was and carried on a reasonable conversation.  We were lucky to have him around for so long.  

Southernpea - August 2, 2024

I unintentionally lied about the kind of peas I intend to plant before the week is over.  They are SOUTHERNpeas, not SUMMERpeas.  No clue what these are, really, but they are supposed to make in under 70 days, so I'm game to try them.  

But there's a problem.  There's no cultivated space left, except for the ends of a few rows.  I'll either need to drag out the tiller and make a new row, or plant on the vacant ends with a hoe.  It's sooooo hot, though, to do either thing.  I went out to the garden earlier to put out some borax-laden ant bait and walk the rows, and worked up a hair-soaking sweat in just a few minutes.   The current plan is to get out the hoe tomorrow evening, once the garden is in shade, and plant on the ends of the rows.  

I'd "reserved" one big chunk of space at the ends of the butterbean rows, but I've planted two pumpkins in it.  Might just jump the new pea rows right over them and see who wins the fight.

HOT! - August 1. 2024

 Daaang, it's hot.  And pushing 70% humidity.  

I need to work in the vegetable garden before the weekend is over.  This week, a shipment of bean seeds arrived.  I think they're called "summerbeans," and they're supposed to mature in under 70 days, which ought to be just about right to be ready to pick before frost.  We'll have to make a new row or two for them, but it's really hot to run the tiller.  

The butterbeans we planted a couple of weeks ago have sprouted.  They'll be pushing it to mature before frost.

The blackeyed peas we planted over a month ago are now blooming.

We picked okra this week - just a handful or two.  

The squash will need picking this afternoon, unless Nanny beat me to it.

The tomatoes?  They're unimpressive.

* * * * * * * * 

Work this week has been a b*tch.  I worked on Year 13 yesterday.  It quickly became apparent that at least one or two boxes were missing.  The lady in charge of the records offered to take me up to the "attic" to see for myself.  It's a mess up there.  File boxes of records (not the ones I'm working on) have been dumped over and just left there.  It's plumb shameful.