New Year's Eve - December 31, 2025

I played with air-dry clay most of the day yesterday.  Sat down at the kitchen table around 6 a.m., watched a few more how-to videos, cleared a spot on the table, then went to sculptin'.   Really, I just mostly did "clay patties," cutting out simple shapes to experiment with paint. 

While I was fooling with the clay, how-to videos were running in the background, one after the other.  I eventually went "ear blind" to them until the algorithm fed me a Crafsman video, and I heard his voice.

"Has anyone figured out your true identity?" and more QUESTIONS ANSWERED!

He has some good how-to videos on his channel.

(And Craftsman, if you've googled yourself and have run across this post . . . can I be in your tribe?)  :)

Anyway, I'm going to spend today trying to figure out UV resin.  I have the basic materials.  I just poured some clear resin into a jewelry pendant mold and have set in the sun on the back porch to cure.  It's cold outside (39 degrees); I don't know if that will delay curing time or have no effect at all.  I have a UV lamp, and I'd prefer to use it outside, too, for my next pour (which will be resin colored with alcohol inks).  

Last night, I did a tiny watercolor landscape painting on an un-coated 2" round disk of air-dry clay.  I'm curious to see if it will show through the resin pendant.  

The thing I'm most anxious/excited about it playing with colors.  I only have one little bottle of resin, so I can't go buck wild with experiments if I want to have any left for a "keeper" piece.  

I just went out to check the clear resin pendant that was on the porch.  Earlier, I noticed that the sun had moved, and so I took the mold out to the yard and set it on top of my cold frame.  I'd noticed some little bubbles as I was pouring, and I tried to pop them, but just made them worse.  But since this pour is only a test, I didn't worry about the tiny bubbles.  Since I moved the mold, a MONSTROUS bubble has developed.  Good thing this is just a practice piece!  I'd better go back to the how-to videos, and pay attention this time.

Santa Claus brought me a big easel.  Earlier this morning, while I was rummaging around in the cabinet looking for some markers, I found two cheap house-painting-type brushes (I'd bought them for use on the magnificent oil landscape I'm going to do one of these days 😉).  It seemed that there was no better place for them than in the tray on the easel.  When I approached the easel with the brushes in my hand, I had an urge to whack them against leg of the easel, a la Bob Ross, just for sport.  But I didn't.  

Old Snot - December 30, 2025

Y'all.

(Don't eat while you read this.  It's disgusting.)

My nose has been running thin, clear snot since . . . I don't know when, but I know it was happening this spring while I was trying to work in the vegetable garden, because I had to keep my pockets full of tissue so I could work.  This continued all year.  I blamed it on allergies. 

Last week, when I went to the doctor for my yearly physical, he prescribed antibiotics for a sinus infection.  I've been taking them for a week. 

This morning, I got up, poured some coffee, made some toast, and sat down to resume a video that I'd abandoned last night before bed.  Pretty soon, I began to hear noises - cracking, popping, squeaking noises - coming from INSIDE my head.  I blew my nose, and what came out looked like (and had the consistency of) well-chewed, yellow-green bubble gum.  It must be vintage snot, breaking loose from deep recesses.  It probably has spring pollen in it.

I guess the antibiotics are working.  

* * * * * * * 

Yesterday, despite temps in the '20s, I went out shopping for groceries and craft supplies.  Not long after I got home, the mailman delivered craft supplies I'd ordered the day after Christmas.  

This week's crafts focus on air-dry clay and UV resin.  In the past, I've played with polymer clay and two-part resin but did not produce anything noteworthy with either medium.  I threw them away a couple of years ago during The Big Purge - I did not like the toxic fumes - but I still have all the tools and molds.  

I'd never worked with air-dry clay until yesterday.  All I did was form some small shapes and set them out to dry.  I want to paint on the clay.  The plan is to try different kinds of paints, see what I can come up with.  

My BFF is gearing up to play with the same craft materials.  I wish we lived in the same state.

Better - December 28, 2025

The day after Christmas, I spent most of the day sitting either in my recliner or on the back porch (it was at least 70 degrees).  I felt terrible.  Around noon, I went to the drug store to get my prescriptions, some OTC cold medicine, and some softer tissues for my poor, raw nose.  That night, I went to bed at 8 p.m. and actually managed to sleep until almost 7 a.m.  I woke up feeling much better.  We had enough assorted food left over from Christmas to see us through the day.

I am still pretty snotty today and would not even consider doing anything very physical, but I am getting better.

The Husband has gone to Cousin David's house for a few days, to drive him to/from day surgery and sit with him for a day or so afterward.  I sent the rest of the German chocolate cake that Nanny brought here Christmas eve, for it does not need to stay here, tempting me.

The summer-like weather we had last week is disappearing today; it's supposed to be in the low 20s tomorrow morning.  I hate cold weather, but if the weatherman is correct, we'll be back in the 40s-50s near the end of the week.  

Tomorrow, a load of craft stuff will be delivered to my doorstep.  I'm stoked.  With The Husband away, there'll be no cooking, so I can craft to my heart's content without interruption.  

Today, I'll be watching how-to videos as well as taking inventory of the craft stuff already on hand.  

The Day After - December 26, 2025

Our Christmas Eve get-together for the folks on the hill was a fairly quiet affair.  There was no particular start time, no sit-down meal.  People just showed up when they felt like it or could get here, which was fine with me.  By 9 p.m., everyone had gone home. 

I woke up at 6 yesterday morning and started baking biscuits and warming the country ham to take to Nanny's.  We were supposed to be at her house by 8 to help her get the family breakfast on the table.  I woke The Husband up around 7, we exchanged our gifts and then began loading the first round of presents to take to Nanny's.

After breakfast, we had Christmas with The Grandson at our house.  When he went home, we loaded up the gifts to take to Son #2's house across the road.  We spent about an hour there, then came home and loaded up the gifts to take to Son #1's house.  (While we were loading that last batch, The Husband said, "Next year, we need to make everybody come here if they want their gifts!"  It's not a bad idea, though we'll need to have Christmas on some day other than Christmas Day.)  Son #1 has the same sinus crud that I've got - he felt so crappy that for the first time in his life he missed breakfast at Nanny's - and he was in bed when we arrived at his house.  We unloaded the loot, hung around a few minutes, then came home and crashed.  Our daughter-in-law had cooked Christmas Dinner but had cancelled the sit-down meal since #1 was feeling so poorly.  She sent dinner home with us in take-out boxes.  We were grateful for it.  

I feel like sh*t today.  I am exhausted, and my nose is so sore from blowing it that I have taken to coating it with chap-stick.  The drug store STILL hasn't filled the prescriptions that my doctor sent Tuesday morning.  My face may explode before I get any medicine.

One rather funny thing happened.  One of The Husband's gifts to me was a rechargeable engraving pen.  I already had the very same engraving pen, which I'd bought for myself several years ago but had seldom used.  Later, when we got into our truck after breakfast at Nanny's, there was a gift on the console from "Santa" to me.  It was another identical engraving pen.  

Christmas Crud - December 24, 2025

My annual holiday cold came early this year.  Normally, after enjoying time with the family at Christmas, in crowded rooms, I come down with a cold a few days later.  Well, it's here, already, on Christmas Eve, when folks will be coming here hungry.

At yesterday's annual physical, the doctor gave me prescriptions for a sinus infection.  Twenty-four hours later, they are still not ready.  I need a new pharmacy.  Pickin's are slim in small towns.

I cooked almost all day yesterday, prepping for today and tomorrow.  Went to bed early, slept fitfully.  At 5, I got up, drank some coffee, ate some toast, and went back to bed until 8.  Got up grumpy.  Slammed things around.  Pissed The Husband off right away.

At noon, I'm going to start a crockpot full of chili.  Half-a-dozen baking sheets are lined up on the kitchen table, ready for hors d'oeuvres assembly.  I should get busy doing that.

Y'all, pray for me today.  By the time the "fun" starts, I may be worthless.

I've been driving the Wrangler for the past couple of weeks, having loaned my "daily driver" car to Son #2 while his car was in the shop.  Friday morning on my way to my optometrist appointment, the Wrangler quit on a country backroad. This had happened once before, a couple of weeks ago.  Both The Husband and I had driven the Wrangler without incident in the interim.  I don't know what's wrong with it.  I was driving along at speed, when all of a sudden . . . RRRRRrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr . . . .  It just quit and coasted to a stop.  I cranked and cranked and cranked, and just when I was about to give up and call for help, it fired off and didn't give me any more problems for the rest of my outing.  After Christmas, we'll have to have it looked at, for The Husband has decided that he wants to drive it to a Jeep rally in Florida this spring.  I will make sure our AAA account is paid up.  

This is the last "idle" day before the Christmas cooking begins.  The presents are wrapped.  The grocery shopping is done.  Tomorrow morning, I have an appointment for my yearly physical, and after that, let the cooking begin, and it won't stop until about noon on Christmas day.  I will be making the same old stuff I always make, but it's stuff that everybody likes, so . . . . 

I have been pondering how I will occupy myself between Christmas and the spring gardening season.  (To be honest, after this year's gardening failures, I am not 100% sure that I will even raise a garden next year, but we'll cross that bridge later.)  My BFF suggested we try air dry clay together, so I ordered some.  It should be here in the next couple of days, but I won't have time to fool with it until after Christmas.  

Shopping, Part 2 - December 19, 2025

Yesterday's shopping outing was unusually successful, considering that my shopping list consisted mostly of gift certificates.  My first stop was at a nail salon, which was next door to a "relics" shop that I had never visited.  After buying the DIL's gift certificate, I decided to poke my head in the relics shop, just to see what kind of stuff it was selling, thinking I might go back after Christmas to investigate more closely.  But on a rack, right in the front of the store, there were stacks of metal signs featuring funny messages, some of which were "man cave" signs with sayings that were perfect for Son #1's new garage.  I got two.  Next door to that was an "overstock" store (which I'd also never visited) running serious pre-Christmas discounts.  There I found a big space heater for #1's unheated man cave/garage.  Score!

The one non-gift-certificate item on my list was a pair of shoes for Nanny.  The shoe store had two - count 'em, TWO - pairs of shoes to fit Nanny's toddler-sized feet.  One of the two was black, shot through with gold threads; the other was solid black.  I almost got the black/gold ones.  Nanny's got a sneaky quirky side, and there's a possibility that she might have worn the glittery shoes with panache, but . . . .  I bought the boring ones and headed home.

Halfway home, I realized that I'd forgotten something, so I turned around and went back to town.  While I was in the store, waiting in line to buy more gift certificates, rain started to pour down.  I thought, "Oh, great . . . ," but by the time I'd paid up and was ready to leave, the storm had calmed to a sprinkle.  

I drove home feeling highly satisfied for having accomplished all of my missions.

There was more gift-wrapping to do - mostly stuff I'd put off the previous day.  I got busy and finished wrapping all of the presents that were here (there's a few more on the way).

This morning, Son #1 finally told me what he'd like to have for Christmas.  The elves said they'd try to get it here by Christmas, but they ain't promising,  

Today, I've got an appointment with my optometrist, after which I need to do just a tad more shopping and then pick up the grocery order. On my way home, I'll stop at a locally-owned grocery store for a country ham for Christmas breakfast at Nanny's.  With that done, we should be good to go for Christmas.

Shopping - December 18, 2025

Have I mentioned how much I hate shopping?  Doesn't matter what it is - gifts, food, anything.  

In a little while, I will be making the next-to-last shopping trip for this Christmas season.  Being a completely uninspired gift-giver, there will be several gift certificates/cards under our tree again this year.  The rest of the shopping was done online.  I just hope everything gets here by Christmas day.

We haven't even put up a Christmas tree.  For the past few years, we've used a pre-lit table-top tree, but we may not even do that this year.  Neither of us has been in the mood to climb into the attic to forage for it.

Yesterday, I did manage to wrap most of the gifts that have already arrived.  Happily, I found enough wrapping paper left over from last year to do the job, plus enough to wrap what hasn't been delivered yet.  

Tomorrow I will pick up the grocery ingredients for our traditional Christmas Eve gathering of relatives on the hill.  Same old uninspired dishes we serve every year, but at least they're something everyone likes.

 

B*tch Day - December 17, 2025

I was a bitch yesterday.

Shocking, I know.

The day started out okay.  Mid-morning, my aunt came over.  We had a nice visit.  

After she left, I tidied up the sewing room.  My daughter-in-law has been using the sewing room a lot in the past month, making Christmas presents.  She's mostly used the t-shirt press and the cutting machine.  The t-shirt press weighs a TON and must be moved to the cutting table for use.  It's been sitting on the cutting table for about a month.  Believing that the DIL was finished with it, and needing the cutting table for wrapping Christmas presents, I lugged the t-shirt press back to its storage spot.  One hour later, the DIL texted me to ask if she could come over to use the press.  I said yes, but you'll have to move it to the cutting table and move it back when you're finished because I need the table.  (Something's wrong with my shoulder; lifting heavy things makes it worse.)

She came over to do her shirt.  When she pre-heated the t-shirt press, she caught the power cord under the heating unit and melted the cord.  Her project didn't get done, after all.  I sent an old computer power cord home with her to ask Son #1 if we could use it on the t-shirt press.  I did not make her move the press pending an answer about the power cord.

Lately, she has been in the habit of bringing their dog, a big, energetic pit bull, when she comes over to craft.  He's a pretty good dog, but I am just not crazy about animals in my house unless it's necessary.  Right off the bat, I heard him drinking out of the toilet, which disgusted me because he licks me and sneezes on me.  I ran him out of the bathroom and closed all of the doors, then I went out to run an errand.  They (she and the dog) went home not long after I returned.

I spent the afternoon cooking.  The Husband needed an appetizer to take to work today, and we needed something for dinner.  

When The Husband came home from work, he said, "What dog has been here today?"  

I said, "The pit bull.  What did he do?"

"He left something here.  Come look."

I followed him back to our bathroom.  There, in the doorway, was the biggest dog turd I have ever seen in my life.     

I don't do dog poop.  Or vomit.  The Husband knows this.  He took care of the turd.

I snapped a picture and sent it to the DIL.  "The dog left us a surprise.  I did not know it was possible for a dog to poop that big.  He is fired."

I didn't get any presents wrapped yesterday.  The t-shirt press is still on the table.

Back home - December 15, 2025

We made it home in one piece after a long drive on Thursday.  We took the long route home to avoid the interstate, so it took us nearly 12 hours to get home, with a couple of stops for meal breaks and potty breaks.  

It's COLD.  This morning, it was about 15 degrees when I got up.  Before the day is over, we'll be in the 40s, and by Thursday we'll be in the 60s.  Crazy - but normal - mid-south weather.  

The Husband has gone back to work today, and I'm trying to come up with something useful to do.  The Christmas shopping is not done, but it ain't happening until the weather warms up later this week.  A few minutes ago, The Grandson texted to ask if I would be home today (yes), and if I would like a "social call."  Of course, I would!  He didn't say what time he's coming, but I expect it won't be long.  I'm wondering why he's not at work, so I'll be pumping him for info once he gets here.

Granddaughter #1 has come home from college for the Christmas break.  She'll be home for almost a month.  Two more semesters and she'll be a college graduate.  I suppose she'll soon be applying for veterinary school.  Fingers crossed that she gets in.

Granddaughter #2 was inducted into the National Honor Society last week.  I am extremely proud of her.  She has made good grades since kindergarten.  If this keeps up, she ought to be offered some good scholarships.  Fingers crossed for that, too!

Grandson's here.  TTYL.

On the road again - December 9, 2025

Greetings from Asheville, NC.

We headed out Sunday morning, planning to stop for the night somewhere along the way.  As evening approached, The Husband was getting tired of driving, so I looked ahead on the map to choose a place to spend the night.  There's a motel that we've used a few times that is situated in the same parking lot with a pretty good Mexican restaurant.  I called ahead to make sure a room was available and told the lady on the phone that we'd see her in about 20 minutes.  We pulled off the interstate at the next town.  Unfortunately, the motel I'd called was in the PREVIOUS town; we'd driven 30+ miles too far.

Whatever.  We found another motel with a Mexican restaurant within sight.  As soon as we hauled our stuff to the room, we went out for dinner and a margarita.

Monday morning, checking the map app on our phones, we discovered that our planned route had lane closures and delays.  So did our alternate route.  At some point, our map apps took over and sent us down a one-car-wide backroad that made us fear for our lives.  But we made it here on time and in one piece.  

Sunday and Monday were gray, drizzly days (it snowed on us yesterday), but today is bright and sunny, though cold.  I can't decide whether to go out sight-seeing or stay in the hotel, where it's nice and warm.  

Betwixt and Between - December 5, 2025

Once again, I am in that most abhorred place, "betwixt and between."  Stymied.  Idle.

I mailed a stack of Christmas cards to friends and relatives early this week.  Yesterday, when I was moving things around in the studio, I found a whole 'nother stack of Christmas cards I painted last year, already in envelopes, with cute little motifs (to match the cards) on the envelopes - better art than I've been slapping out for the past month.  Oh, well.  <Shrug> 

We're going out of town next week.  There's not much time between now and then to tackle a new project.   I've already done all the laundry.  Stacked up some clothes for the suitcase.  What to do today?

I could vacuum.

Nah.

Chauffeuring Nanny - December 4, 2025

Nanny's doctor appointment was set for 1 p.m. yesterday in the big city.  All of her biological children were at work, so I volunteered to drive her to her appointment.  Not knowing how long the doctor visit would take, I took my e-reader and some mini-Snickers left over from Halloween.  My plan was to read and snack in the waiting room while Nanny did her business with the doctor.  

I should have known better.

Long story short, I wound up in the exam room with Nanny, which turned out to be a good thing.  We had driven nearly 40 miles for routine bloodwork and a 3-minute visit with the doctor, who proclaimed that all was well, come back in 3 months for another test.  I asked if Nanny's GP doc (10 minutes from home) could do the vein stick and forward the results.  We worked it out.  

It's hard to have a conversation with Nanny.  I guess it's because she spends a lot of time alone, with no one to talk to, but she won't let you get a word in once she gets going.  

 

I hate cars - December 3, 2025

Since Son #2's car died Monday night, I loaned him my "daily driver," intending to drive my old Wrangler until Son's car is fixed.  I had not driven the Wrangler in weeks, so before The Husband left for work yesterday morning, I went out to make sure it would start.  It cranked right up.

At 11:25, I cranked it again to let it warm up before heading out for my noon lunch date with my former boss.  At 11:30, when I proceeded to back out of the driveway, the engine quit.  I cranked and cranked and cranked until I feared that I'd run the battery down.  I was about to call my boss to tell her I couldn't make lunch, but I tried to crank the Wrangler one more time, and it fired right off.  

Dilemma:  do I go on with my lunch plans and risk getting stranded in town, or do I call off the lunch?  

I decided to go on to town.  Over the years, we've owned so many P.o.S. vehicles that I am on a first-name basis with the tow truck.  If the Wrangler wouldn't crank after lunch, I could get home.

After lunch, the Wrangler cranked on the first try.

Instead of coming straight home, I went to the auto parts store to buy new wiper blades for the Wrangler.  When I prepared to leave the store, the Wrangler would not crank.  I cranked and cranked and cranked.  Eventually, it started.  I hurried home.

Later, I had to make a run to the dollar store up the road.  I intended to leave the Jeep running while I was in the store, but I turned it off out of habit.  It did the same crap when I came out of the store.  Crank, crank, crank.  Almost give up.  Then finally start.

This weekend, I'm going to ask Son #1 to get to the bottom of this problem.

Meanwhile, I am supposed to drive Nanny to a doctor appointment this afternoon.  My original plan was to drive the Wrangler, but we probably ought to go in her old mini-van, instead.

It's gonna be a long day.

For the Birds - December 2, 2025

Birds invade our back porch when it gets cold.  We can't figure out how they get in, and they can't figure out how to get out.  It wouldn't bother me for them to be on the porch except that they POOP on stuff.  This morning, I found two big white splatters on my worktable (which I am not currently using because it's too cold to stay on the porch for long).   Disgusting.

This week has been tough, already.  Recall that The Husband and I are trying to give up cigarettes and have bought vape gizmos to help us do it.  We're not snapping at each other . . . yet.

(I am convinced that the nicotine is only a tiny fraction of my addiction.  If I'm busy, I don't think about cigarettes.  But there are triggers.  Driving is one: get in the car, crank up, buckle up, back up, go forward, hit a long stretch of road, light a cigarette.  Might not puff it three times before I put it out.  Crazy, I know.

So I may have to give up driving in order to quit smoking.  ;) )

Last night, just as we were about to sit down to supper, our daughter-in-law called to ask us to come get the granddaughters.  Son #2's car croaked when he cranked it up after work (he thinks it's the transmission); she needed to go pick him up and didn't want to take the girls.  So The Husband went to get them.  

After everybody had been fed, The Husband began the task of putting together the Hot Wheels racetrack I'd bought for the Little Rotten Baby (who is now almost 5).  We have no good toys in this house - nothing that hasn't already been through four grandchildren and is "old hat."  All the dolls are naked and have crazy hair.  The one toy that engages the LRB for a little while is Thomas the Train, left over from The Grandson's tender years (he's 18 now).   She mostly enjoys putting the track together, figuring out the right curves to get the ends to meet.  Once that's done, she typically moves on to something else, leaving The Husband playing with the trains.  I figure they'd both have better fun with the racetrack.

But just about the time The Husband got it together - it was a maze of loop-de-loops - the DIL called to say that they were on their way home and that the girls should go home and start their baths.  It was raining, so I took them home in the car.  When I got back and tried to move the racetrack, it fell apart.  Just as well.  It seems to be the assembly that engages.  

Today I'm having lunch with my former boss.  This is not our usual lunch day, but I will be out of town on our regular lunch day.  I need to go a little early and shop for a present for her.

I will want a cigarette while I drive.  :-\

December 1, 2025

Thanksgiving Day was a l-o-n-g day.

Dinner at my brother's house was set for 1:00, an "aspirational" target in the words of my brother.  We arrived about 12:15. Dinner was served about 2:30.

The dinner at Son #1's house was set at 4:00.  We arrived at 4:05, still stuffed from the first dinner.  We ate a few bites and headed to Son #2's house about 6:00.  Son #2 had plenty leftovers, but we declined them and just visited.

Friday, we were slugs.

Saturday, The Husband suggested that we go to a vape store and buy stuff to help us stop smoking.  We did that.  Neither of us is a heavy smoker, and although we bought reduced nicotine "juice," mine is still too strong.  I may be getting more nicotine from this than from cigarettes.

It's cold this morning, below freezing.  Later today, it's supposed to rain.  I need to go to the grocery store before that happens.

Thanksgiving Day, November 27, 2025

I am thankful for a lot of things, too many to list in the time between now and time to load the food into the truck and hit the road to dinner at my brother's house.  Later, we'll have another dinner at my son's house.

I still have to bake the sweet potato casserole.

I'm a little worried about the sweet potato dumplings.  I wrapped the sweet potatoes in dough and baked them yesterday.  This morning, I made the yummy cream sauce to pour over them.  This is not what the recipe said to do.  The recipe said to pour the yummy cream sauce over the UNBAKED dumplings, sprinkle them with sugar and cinnamon, and THEN bake them.  

I made this dish according to the recipe last week, when The Husband had to take a dish to the office Thanksgiving dinner.  They were ok.  I baked them on a sheet pan instead of in a casserole dish, and the wider pan left more of the dumpling tops sticking above the sauce, which worked out well.  The cinnamon and sugar on the dumpling tops made a nice crust.  But the parts that were below the sauce were a little gummy.  

I can't decide whether to pour the sauce over the dumplings (which are now nestled together in a casserole dish) or heat the sauce and let folks pour it over the dumplings.  The dumplings, by themselves, are kind of blah.  I should have rolled the sweet potatoes in a cinnamon/sugar mixture before I wrapped them in dough.  Without the sauce, they are just a sweet potato in a roll.  

It would be nice to preserve the brown crust on the rolls, but I think I will just to ahead and pour the sauce over them, bake them, and re-heat them when it's time to eat.

Looking forward to today.  After dinner with Son #1, we'll go across the street to Son #2's house.  Granddaughter #1 is home from college.

Sweet Potatoes - November 26, 2025

There's cooking to be done today.  We'll be attending a Thanksgiving dinner around noon, and another around 5.  I am taking dishes to both.  Sweet potato casserole and spinach dip to my brother's house, and sweet potato dumplings and pecan casserole to my son's house.  

The sweet potatoes are in the oven now. 

Historically, I boiled the sweet potatoes.  I never, ever drop a sweet potato into a pot of water that I don't think about Nanny and The Husband's grandmother, Mama J.  (She was a card.)   

The three of us were sitting at the kitchen table, discussing a recipe for sweet potato pie.  I was probably 30 years old hadn't had a lot of experience cooking from scratch.  I commented that the only problem with sweet potatoes was that they were so hard to peel.  Mama J said, "Boil 'em, first."  

It was like the heaven's opened up.  I heard angels singing.  

Evidently, Nanny had that same experience, for she exclaimed, "MAMA J!  You could have told me that THIRTY YEARS AGO!"

Cracked me up.

The angels sang for me again this morning as I was washing sweet potatoes, preparing to boil them.  

My biggest pan is in the refrigerator, half full of chicken noodle soup.  As I was taking a bowl out of the cabinet, planning to transfer the soup to the bowl so that I could use the pan for the sweet potatoes, it occurred to me that I could BAKE them instead of boiling them.

I hope there is not some down-side to baking vs. boiling that I have not considered.  I couldn't think of any, except a possible difference in texture.  We'll see.  

This year, for the first time, I bought bagged sweet potatoes instead of loose ones.  It was a mistake.  Whereas I can choose loose potatoes of similar size, the bagged potatoes came in a variety of sizes.  The little ones will be done far earlier than the big ones.  I've set a timer to remind me to check them early.

* * * * * * * * 

Yesterday, I spent most of the day fooling with Christmas cards.  During the past year, my watercolor practice produced a stack of 4" x 6" mini-paintings, just the right size for attaching to 5" x 7" greeting cards.  Yesterday, I gathered up the best of the Christmas-themed ones, stuck them to cards, and addressed them to friends and relatives.  This morning, I found a few more.  They'll have to wait until Friday.  

Herbs - November 24, 2025

In the sewing room, the embroidery machine is stitching out some gift tags for a friend.  They're felt tags, with metal eyelets for ribbons.  This is the second batch I've made; I sort of screwed up the eyelets on the first batch, so I'm trying again, being a little wiser this time.  

In the new planter, greens are coming up like crazy.  So far, nothing has dug in the dirt, but there are strange humps raised up, here and there.  I can't figure out what's making them, for I smoothed the dirt evenly when I finished planting.  Now that I think about it, though, there are some potato peelings (and other kitchen scraps) between the dirt and the leaves.  If those humps are the result of potatoes trying to sprout, I'm going to be kind of pissed, for I did not put them in there to make plants and grow potatoes.  

Walking around in the yard for the past couple of weeks, I spied all sorts of green growth on the ground.  Weeds, you know.  I finally decided to research these weeds and discovered that almost all of them have some medicinal benefits.  There's a phenomenal patch of chickweed growing in one of the flower beds.  I've been letting it grow simply because it's kind of pretty (if I'd planted it on purpose, I'd be proud of it).  Come to find out, the stuff is good to eat and good for topical applications.  The yard is full of "dead nettle."  It, too, is good for medicine.  Yesterday, I cut some and started a tincture to include in some salve I intend to make.

I haven't yet done anything with the cherry bark that I peeled last week.  

But I have cute tins to put salve in . . . if I ever make any.

* * * * * * * *

It's a dreary, rainy, somewhat chilly day.  At 1:00, I braved the elements to run errands.  First on my list was to mail a package to a friend.  When I got to the shipping store, I found that I'd left out the Christmas card I'd intended to include in the package.  Oh, well, I'll whack a stamp on it and put it in the mail tomorrow.  The second errand was to pick up The Husband's drugstore prescription.  When I got home and opened the bag, I discovered that they'd given me the wrong prescription, some nausea suppositories for my son, whose first name is the same as The Husband's and who lives across the road from us.  Little Miss at the counter didn't pay attention to the street number I gave her.  Next stop, the post office to buy stamps for the Christmas cards I've painted.  The clerk at the counter - the same one I wanted to shank the last time I visited the post office - barely had time to help me because of her conversation with someone around the corner.  When the postal display gave me the "how did we do?" choice of a frowny face, a meh face, or a smiley face, I chose the meh face.  And considered it a generosity.

Final stop, the grocery store, to get Bisquick for the chicken & dumplings I intend to make for dinner.  I hadn't had lunch and wanted everything I saw, so the Bisquick ended up costing me $33.00.

Greens - November 19, 2025

Last week, as I was making an online grocery order, an ad popped up for a 4' x 2' x 1' oval galvanized raised bed.  On sale, $30.  It came in pieces in a box that was about a cubic foot square, along with a bag of dozens of bolts and wing nuts.  The Husband and I put it together in about 30 minutes.  Yesterday, I set it on top of a big piece of cardboard, filled it with chopped leaves and store-bought dirt, and planted mustard, collards, and turnip greens in it.  As I was about to wash up after the planting, I spied a package of carrot seeds left over from last year, which I sprinkled over the bed for the heck of it.  Mother Nature watered it a little bit last night. According to gardening guru Uncle Jack, it's about 2 months late for planting greens.  We'll see what happens.

Squirrels will probably plant acorns in it.  

Last night, WHILE I WAS COOKING DINNER, the blood blister on my thumb (which I got earlier in the day from peeling wild cherry tree bark) started leaking.  I squished out the rest of the blood, put a waterproof band-aid on it, and kept working while trying not to touch he food.  Unfortunately, the task at hand was to wrap crescent roll dough around sliced cooked sweet potatoes, hard to do without two thumbs.  

The cherry bark shavings are drying on the kitchen table.  I'm going to grind half of them into powder and keep the other half intact for brewing tea.

The problem with fooling with new things is that it sends me down multiple rabbit holes before I ever accomplish a thing.  This morning, I watched a video on how to make salve (I've already got the base ingredients).  When the instructor finished combining everything, he poured the warm mixture into little tins.  I've got some little jars, but they're not cute.  I added tins to my Hobby Lobby list.  Then he put cute little round labels on the tins.  I added cute little round labels to my list.  Then I started working out a cute little design to go on the cute little labels . . . and I haven't even made the salve, yet.  

Wild Cherry Tree - November 18, 2025

There's a wild cherry tree growing 10 feet from our driveway.  The first time I noticed it, it was 3 feet tall.  I figured if I simply cut it to the ground, it would become a bush; it needed to be dug up by the roots.  I never got around to it.  Now, it's taller than our house, and its truck is as big around as my thigh, and it's gone long past digging up.

For years, I've said to The Husband, "We ought to cut that tree down before it tears up the driveway or falls on the house."

He'll say, "Yep."  

And the tree still stands.

This morning, "the algorithm" fed me a video about making cough syrup out of wild cherry bark.

The Husband has a cold.  

I think I'll make him some cough medicine.

* * * * * * * 

Caution:  Stripping cherry bark with a pocketknife can be hazardous to the thumb.  

Blood blister.  

Homemade Bread - November 17, 2025

I was especially useful in the kitchen last week.  Around Wednesday, I made a big pot of vegetable beef soup.  We had it for dinner that night and the next.  Friday, I sent some home with a daughter-in-law.  We finished it off Saturday night, with fresh bread from the almost-forgotten bread machine under the cabinet.

Yesterday, I made another batch of bread and used it to make a double batch of cinnamon rolls.  They are not all that fabulous.  They needed a different bread recipe.  I can make a biscuit that you could float to someone across a table, but I don't know much about yeast bread.  Come to think of it, biscuit dough makes a fairly decent cinnamon roll.  ;)

* * * * * * * * 

I started the oil landscape late last week, got it blocked in and left it to dry.  Meanwhile, a daughter-in-law came over to use the t-shirt press, and I had to move all of the painting accoutrements off the table to make room for the machine.  "Out of sight, out of mind."  I haven't touched it since.  

Instead of oil painting, I have been having fun with watercolor.  Did a bunch of Christmas-y paintings for Christmas cards.  Yesterday, I tried to paint one that featured a miniature donkey in a stable.  Tried three times, in fact, and still didn't get it right.  Attempt #4 is drying on the kitchen table, awaiting the next details.  If I don't screw it up, this one might be a keeper.

Northern Lights - November 12, 2025

Well, after two days of really cold weather, it's supposed to be near 70 degrees today and for the rest of the week.  This is why you might see Tennesseans dressed in winter boots, shorts, and fur-lined hoodies over t-shirts.  You just never know what it'll take to be comfortable from one minute to the next.  ;)

The winter blast even affected Florida.  People on the beach were wrapped in blankets in broad daylight.  And here's something kind of hilarious:  the cold made salamanders fall out of trees.  Apparently, they got too cold to hang onto the limbs.  My grandfather once said that he'd seen it rain frogs, but I never believed it, even though he wasn't one to joke around.  Maybe I should reconsider, for years from now, people will be telling their grandchildren it rained salamanders and be telling the truth!  

Last night, we saw the Northern Lights.  Around 9 p.m., the Daughter-in-Law across the road texted and said they were behind Nanny's house.  The Husband and I went outside.  There was a faint blue glow to the northwest.  I wondered if it was just the searchlight from a towboat lighting up clouds.  I was cold and went inside.  A few minutes later, when I was getting ready for bed, The Husband came in and said, "Come outside!"  The sky had turned red, so red that I feared there might be a big fire somewhere.  But it was wavering and changing colors.  Our cell phones could capture better images than we could see with our naked eyes.  It was kind of awesome.

The Husband has gone on another work-related road trip today.  I considered going with him, but changed my mind.  After Saturday's road trip home, when some malfunction blocked interstate traffic for three hours, I've had enough time in the truck to last me for a while.  Next month we have an even longer road trip to do, and I'm already dreading it.

This morning, I'm trying to decide how to spend the next two days.  I need to buy groceries, but since I won't be cooking dinner tonight, it could wait another day.  And now that I think about it, I have enough stuff on hand to make vegetable beef soup, which would last us for a couple of days and push the grocery shopping even farther into the future.  ;)

I might paint, instead.

There's an 11" x 14" canvas, prepped and ready to go, on an easel on the sewing room table.  I've already sketched scenery for a landscape, using a photo from Sunday's walk-about as a reference:

All I need to do is squeeze out some paints and get to painting.  

First, I think I'll go out and take that same photograph while the sun is shining, as the colors will be more vibrant than they were Sunday, when it was cloudy.

Nix that idea.  I just went out to take a picture.  The windy cold snap nearly denuded the trees.  I'll just have to imagine what they would've looked like in the sun.  

But I think I can do that.  Maybe.

Brrrrr! - November 10, 2025

Cold weather arrived with a fury yesterday.  We had our first freezing temperatures last night.  I am not happy about this.  It's supposed to warm up to the 60s and above before the week is out, but I know it will be just a temporary respite from Old Man Winter.

Saturday night, we made it home from our road trip, tired and hungry.  Somewhere between Nashville and Jackson, the interstate traffic came to a stand-still.  About the time we saw the back-up, the map app suggested we take the next exit (a mile away) to go around the problem.  We were on the east side of the Tennessee River, and river crossings are few and far between.  Any alternate route we took would add at least an hour to our drive.  It was an hour before we reached the exit.  When we got in sight of the off ramp, The Husband "floored it," and fired us up the exit ramp, saying he'd rather be moving than sitting.  

There was a fast-food restaurant at the exit, and it was teeming with people like us, desperate to pee and decide what to do.  A group of little old ladies had their phones out but were having trouble using their map apps and did not really know where they were, geographically-speaking.  When I named the closest towns north and south of the interstate where they could cross the river, they brightened up; they knew their way home from the northern route.

We took that route, too, The Husband being already familiar with it from visits with a cousin who lives nearby.  We rolled up in our driveway after nearly 9 hours on the road and about had to pry ourselves out of the truck.  I'd taken a tote bag full of art supplies (which I had not used) and a bag of electronic stuff (which I'd barely touched).  Had to unload all that crap, plus the luggage, plus the cooler and the snacks, and some other stuff we acquired along the way.   I suggested to The Husband that, since there are no bears in this neighborhood to burgle the truck for snacks, we should just leave it all until morning.  But he wanted to get it over with, so we did.  As soon as everything was in the house, I put on my nightgown, ate half a bagel, and went to bed.

Yesterday morning when I got up, it was cold and windy.  Mid-morning, I went out to take some pictures in the yard while the leaves are at peak color.  I've got a mind to try an oil painting, probably a landscape, and I wanted to get some reference photos.  One shot made me laugh when I framed it up in the camera.  

See that ivy "reindeer?"  ;)   

I told The Husband we should wrap it with Christmas lights.  

Yesterday afternoon, we walked across the road to visit with The Granddaughters.  The LRB wanted to come home with us.  She had a hard time deciding what she wanted to do when she got here.  When she investigated the sewing room, for the first time she asked if she could use the sewing machine.  All of her sisters have used the machine.  While I was heart-warmed that she expressed an interest, I said no.  She's 4.  (Maybe next time...)  I steered her toward the toy box, which contains mostly "boy stuff" (most of the "good" "girl stuff" has been taken home over the years by her sisters).   She ended up coaxing The Husband into setting up the Thomas the Train stuff in the living room floor.  He continued to play with it long after she'd moved on to something else.  ;)

I've got a lot to do today.  Art class is at 1:00.  Haircut at 4:45. Multiple errands to run in between.  I hope today's outing is more successful than yesterday's outing.  

Yesterday morning, I went to the hobby store in search of a few art supplies I needed and a craft project I could do in the car on tomorrow's road trip.  The store was unusually crowded, and part of the crowd was running, screaming, crying children, so I did a cursory tour of the store, got my necessities, and moved on.  Didn't find anything to do in the car.  :-\

Next stop, grocery store to get road-trip snacks and cream for the potato soup I intended to make for dinner.  It, too, was crawling with people, many of whom were pushing baskets filled with CASES of food - peanut butter, jelly, tomato sauce, pasta - evidently a group re-stocking its food pantry in light of the government shut-down.    There wasn't any cream.  I grabbed a ready-to-cook chicken pot pie and got out of there as soon as I could. 

This morning, I've been packing for the road trip.  My art supply bag is bulging with stuff for today's class and things I might need while I kill time at the hotel.  I still have to hunt up all my gadgets - laptop, Kindle, chargers.  I hate lugging all of this stuff, but I would go nuts with nothing to do.  

If I would get busy after my haircut, I could come up with something to do in the car.  You might remember that I started a lavender quilt a few months ago.  The original plan was to make 24 hexagon flower blocks and 24 blocks using a printed fabric panel.

I've finished all of the hexagon flower blocks, and now I'm re-thinking the printed panel blocks.  They bore me a little bit, even though that little panel is the very thing that made me start this quilt.  

I'm also considering using this big embroidered bee:

The bee in the picture fits a 4" x 4" hoop.  I digitized this bee, myself, so it can be as big or as small as I want, and I can add things to it, like flowers or a honeycomb background.  

Maybe I can figure this out on my laptop while we're on the road.  The Husband's fancy new truck has an electrical outlet, so I should not have to worry about my battery going dead.  :-)

 

Mean Dogs - November 3, 2025

Yesterday, after my ex-brother-in-law's memorial service, I saw a photograph of him taken some time in the late sixties or early seventies.  He was sitting in the driver's seat of a powder blue Volkswagen Beetle, with Shawn the Poodle in his lap.  Shawn was a demon.  He had not crossed my mind in years.  I told the following story to my nephew's wife, who was sitting next to me when I saw the picture.

I don't know what year it was, but my BIL had gone off to boot camp in the early 70s, and my sister and Shawn were mostly staying at my parents' house while he was gone.  They slept on the couch in the living room.  Shawn stayed home with my mother when my sister went to work each day.  

Pretty soon, my mother started to complain that her "drawers" were disappearing.  One day, she caught Shawn sneaking behind the couch with something in his mouth and, sure enough, when she looked behind the couch, there were her missing panties.  

But when she started to pull the couch away from the wall, Shawn went into attack mode.  He zoomed behind the couch and, stationing himself between Mother and her underwear, went into a crouch, growled, and bared his teeth.  

My mother wasn't having it.  She grabbed the broom and battled her way in, alternately swiping at her drawers and fending off the attack.  She won the round and reclaimed her drawers.  Shawn learned what the business end of a broom tastes like.  

Now that I think about it, my sister, who is a very sweet person, has a history of owning the meanest dogs in the world.  There was Shawn, and then Buckwheat - some kind of little dustmop lap dog.  Buckwheat nearly ate my aunt's nose off when she leaned down to say hello to him.  And then Sparky, a rescued Yorkie-ish dog who attacked just about everyone except my sister.  I guess it's a good thing she likes little dogs.  

Puzzled - November 2, 2025

Lately, on YouTube, I've been watching a British TV show called Portrait Artist of the Year.  It's a show in which celebrities sit for portraits done by professional and amateur painters.  (The celebrity is allowed to take one portrait home with him/her.)  The paintings are then judged by artists and art historians, and the winner moves up in a competition that will result in a commission to paint a celebrity portrait that will hang in a museum.

I often play a computer game in another window while the show is running, but I switch windows at the scenes in which the judge utter phrases like, "Liam has captured something very subtle about the sitter," or "Mary's brush strokes are just fantastic!"   

And I am often puzzled by what the judge has seen.

What makes a brush stroke "fantastic?"  

The winning portrait - not necessarily the one the sitter chose to keep - is often one that I considered the worst of the bunch.

Clearly, I have no taste in art.

Nevertheless, when I work up my nerve, I am going to attempt to paint a portrait.  In oil.  Haven't decided on the subject, yet.  

I might paint myself.

If I can figure out what a fantastic brush stroke is.

* * * * * * * * 

Later this afternoon, The Husband and I are to attend a memorial service for my ex-brother-in-law.  The Husband and Son #1 are playing/singing at the service.  It is no big deal for Son #1 - he plays before an audience every week at church - but The Husband is nervous.  He is playing/singing "Over the Rainbow," the Hawaiian guy's version (I have no clue how to spell the name).  He's got the ukulele part down pat, but the vocals are giving him trouble; he's fudging the high notes a little.  I hope he breezes through it perfectly.  

Friday - October 31, 2025

Happy Halloween, if you're into that sort of thing.  

I'm not.  

My first memory of Halloween happened when I was about 2 years old.  The family was preparing to go down the road to my aunt's house.  We did not have any candy for trick-or-treaters (probably couldn't afford it); most of the lights in the house were off.  Daddy had set me down on the couch until everyone else was ready to go.

There was a knock on the front door.  From the bedroom, Daddy hollered, "Come in."

What stepped through the door was a monster!  It was wearing a plastic mask, one of those cheap ones with the elastic string that goes around the back of the head.

I let out a blood-curdling scream.  

I remember Daddy snatching me off the couch.  Everything past that is a blank.

I do not have happy memories of Halloween.  ;)

* * * * * * * * 

Yesterday, the daughter-in-law came over to work on her t-shirt project.  She'd seen a how-to video and wanted to try it.  My plan was to mostly stay out of her way, but she'd never done much sewing and needed occasional help.  It took almost all day.  

Speaking of projects, I need to find a road-trip project.  We've got another long drive ahead of us next week, and I'd like to keep my hands busy while on the road.  But I don't know what it would be.  I'm not in the mood for needlework of any description.  Maybe I'll go peruse the hobby store.  

Dreading Winter - October 29, 2025

It's rainy, windy, and cold today.  

Oh, how I dread winter.  

* * * * * * * * 

Yesterday, I went to the second of four drawing classes I'm scheduled to take.  That morning, I woke up with a headache.  Before long, I started seeing watery "lights," which I recognized as the onset of a migraine.  It's been a long time since I'd had one of those.  I took some Tylenol and followed up with a couple of aspirin a couple of hours later.  They didn't really work.

The class started at 1 p.m.  My heart wasn't in it.  At 2:00, an hour before the class was to end, I packed up, came home, and stretched out on the couch with a blanket.  Ten minutes later, my daughter-in-law came in to work on a t-shirt she wanted to make.  My head was still pounding, and I wasn't much help.  She finally gave up and went home, planning to come back today.  

A month ago, I made a tincture for migraines, clematis virginiana soaked in pure grain alcohol.  Last night, I decided to try it - just a few drops.  It seemed to help.

I went to bed before 8 p.m., slept until 3:30 a.m.  Finally got up around 4, ate some toast, opened a book, and read a few minutes before falling back to sleep in my recliner.  

My eyeballs are sore today, and I still have a mild headache.  A few minutes ago, I tried a few more drops of the tincture.  It's supposed to be better at forestalling a migraine than at treating a full-on headache already in progress.  It's very SPICY - not sure whether the heat comes from the clematis or the PGA - but the burn only lasts a few seconds.

I don't have a plan for today.  Not in the mood to tackle a big project.  Maybe I'll just be quiet and read.

Dinner with The Grandson - October 24, 2025

I'd promised The Grandson that we'd have meatloaf and creamed potatoes for dinner.  He wanted green beans, too.  

I'd planned to go to the grocery store for fresh ground beef, but I didn't really want to go to the grocery store, so I went to the freezer.  The first package I picked up said, "Use or freeze" by some date in 2022.  If the meatloaf had been just for The Husband and me for dinner, I'd have used that 2022 package, but since it was for The Grandson, I dug around and found some from 2024.  Good enough.  I thawed two pounds of meat because Carl would be coming to dinner, too.

Mid-afternoon, I checked the potato situation.  I'd picked up a bag of russet potatoes last week.  They were green - like, lime green.  The internet frowned on eating green potatoes - they could give you a stomach ache - but I've eaten green potatoes before and did not die.  I peeled one; the green was just skin deep. I peeled and cubed enough for dinner and left them to soak until time to cook them.  Rinsed them again and boiled them.  They were fine.  I wasn't particularly thrilled with the texture, but I think that it was the TYPE of potato that made the difference.  I like red potatoes for creaming.  

My family likes green beans cooked down low in an iron skillet.  I opened two cans, since I'd be feeding two big boys.  About 5:00, The Grandson texted me that he'd be here around 6:30, and that Carl wasn't coming.

The Grandson arrived right on time, and dinner was ready.  We sat down at the kitchen table and had an enjoyable visit.  The Grandson had seconds, so I guess the food tasted okay.  And my stomach isn't rumbly today, so I guess the green potatoes weren't lethal.

I don't know what I'm going to do today.  It's cold, too cold to be comfortable on the porch, so I'll have to find something to do inside.  It's time for me to start moving my workstation indoors.  

Snake in the Grass - October 22, 2025

When Husband came home from work yesterday, he showed me a picture he'd taken on the way to our door.  Snake!  Red and black (mostly), curled up in amongst the monkey grass.  He said it was stretched out across the threshold when he approached the front door.  I hate knowing there's a snake on the loose.

I mean, I know in the back of my mind that this yard, surrounded by trees and ivy and fields and unruly flower beds, is prime real estate for a snake.  There could be one anywhere.  SEEING one is a different matter.  Makes it more personal.   

This morning, before The Husband opened the storm door on his way to work, he peeked out to make sure the snake hadn't come back on the porch, and then he eased the door open and looked up.  His looking up TOTALLY CREEPED ME OUT.   I would never have thought to look UP for the snake.  If a snake were to drop down on my head, I'd have a come-apart.

Thankfully, the snake was not on the porch, nor anywhere in sight.  This afternoon, I went out to plant a hydrangea in the edge of the yard, and I was r-e-a-l careful about where I stepped.

A few minutes ago, The Grandson texted me and asked if we had dinner plans tonight.  I told him that his grandfather is out of town, and I am having toast.  He asked if I would like to have dinner plans.  

Truth was, I didn't want to have dinner plans.  I really didn't want company, to be honest, even if it is my only grandson.  I have been on the go all day, and then I came home and dug a big hole for the hydrangea, and I am tired.  Nevertheless, this IS The Grandson, and I was a little worried that something was amiss.  

So I texted, "Well, I could.  What are you thinking?"  Meaning what restaurant.

He replied, "Anything that you are able and willing to make.  And can I bring my friend Carl?"

As I was reading the text, I was on the phone with The Husband, and I blurted out, "AW, HELL NAW!" and busted out laughing.  Told him about the texts, and how I was too tired to cook.  He said, "And, anyway, we don't have any groceries."  Truth.

I called The Grandson and begged off for tonight.  But tomorrow night, he's coming over for meat loaf, mashed potatoes, and green beans.  

And Carl's coming with him.

Welcome back, Sasquatch - October 21, 2025

Sasquatch is back.

He/She/It comes around about this time every year.  He/She/It makes a sound like two wooden drumsticks repeatedly knocked together.  The first time I heard it, I googled, "animal" and "sounds like two sticks being knocked together?"  Google said it could be Sasquatch.  Intriguing, but I figure it's something closer to a turkey.  In any case, whatever he/she/it is, his/her/its name is "Sasquatch."

* * * * * * * * 

I finally made it to the grocery store yesterday but came home with the same old boring stuff.  Meat is ridiculously expensive.  We're going to eat from what's already in our freezer.  Starting tomorrow, I won't be cooking dinner every night since The Husband will be out of town for the rest of the week.  It'll be toast or sandwiches for me until he comes home.

After the grocery store run, I picked the community garden peas.  There were so few green pods left on the vines that I did not see the point in trying to eke out another picking, so I pulled up the vines.  There was one tiny squash to pick, and the vines look like they're on their last leg.  I think I'm done with the community garden this year. 

This afternoon, I start a new art class, a 4-week drawing class.  We'll learn perspective and color theory.  I'm stoked, not so much for the learning as for the chance to socialize a little.  

Found it - October 20, 2025

On our back porch is a cabinet made from two salvaged bathroom vanity cabinets, nailed together and topped with ceramic tile-covered plywood.  When we put it out here, I envisioned it functioning as a buffet table for all the cookouts and parties we were going to have.  

It has never been used as a buffet table.  Instead, it functions as a catch-all.  

Currently on the cabinet is a big basket of gardening tools.  Yesterday afternoon, I happened to glance at the basket as I was walking past it, and something unusual caught my eye.  A thin, dark cord.  I stopped and turned around.  There was the Kindle charger I'd been hunting for two days. 

I have zero recollection of putting the cord in that basket, or even being anywhere near the basket with the cord in my hand.  I would have blamed it on The Husband - a practical joke, maybe - except that he was standing nearby when I found it, and he seemed as surprised as I was. 

Had to be Herman.

* * * * * * * * 

It's cold this morning.

I need to get up, get dressed, and get myself to the grocery store and the community garden, but I don't want to take off my warm jammies and fuzzy housecoat.  

 

Where did I put it? - October 19, 2025

I have turned the house upside down this morning, looking for my Kindle charger.  I seem to remember taking it to Gatlinburg but don't remember using it (or handling it) while we were there.  It was not in the most likely place, the schlepping bag of art supplies and other necessities.  Checked the truck, checked the suitcases, and everywhere else I could think to check.  Not anywhere.

Fortunately, there's an old back-up Kindle on the nightstand.  It is charging as we speak.  

Yesterday, The Husband's office held its annual barbeque get-together for the retirees of the factory.  About a dozen showed up, all of them in their 80s and older.  It is sweet to get them together once a year, since they worked together for 25+ years.  During the party, Granddaughter #2 called to ask if I could alter a romper for her.  I said I would, and asked when she needed it.  "Six-thirty."  "TONIGHT?"  "Yes, ma'am."  This shot down my plans for the afternoon.

We still need groceries, and I had planned to stop at the store on the way home and force The Husband to go in with me and find something that would tempt his appetite.  Nix that idea.  Straight home to work on the romper.  We tooted the horn as we passed by #2's house.  She came right over with the romper AND an elastic-waist skirt for #3 that needed to be made a tad tighter.  All the romper needed was to have the strap buttons moved up 3".  Easy jobs.

This morning, Fall has stuck it's foot in the door.  I've got my furry housecoat on over my clothes.  May stay that way all day.  

I went outside a few minutes ago to look in my car for the missing charger.  (There's no reason why it should be in there, but if I hadn't checked that's where it would've been.)  Granddaughters #3 and #4 were out in the yard, riding bikes and scooters in the driveway.  The three dogs were outside, as well.  I did not want to yell "hello" to them, knowing that the dogs would hear it and barrel across the road, so I just stepped to the end of our driveway and waved.  The dogs saw me and came running, as I feared they would.  I ran toward them, scooped up the little dustmop dog from the road, and led the big boys back into their yard.  

Granddaughter #4, wearing only a t-shirt and her underpants, ran to me for a hug.  She swore she wasn't cold, but her legs were like popsicles.  The last thing I said to her before I walked back home was, "Go inside and put on some pants and shoes!"  Little Rotten Baby.  

But I just had it ... - October 17, 2025

There's one good thing about being absent-minded: I get more exercise, searching for THINGS I JUST HAD IN MY HAND.

This morning, I decided to ink some greeting card drawings that I sketched in pencil yesterday.  I used a waterproof pen to trace over the pencil lines, planning to erase the pencil marks and paint the drawings with watercolors.  I decided to scan the drawings before I paint them, in case I want to change/re-do them later.  This required moving my laptop from the back porch table where I was working to the sewing room - er, studio - where the scanner is.  While scanning the drawings, I noticed on one of them a place that needed work, a simple fix with the pen.  When I got back to the porch, the pen had gone A.W.O.L.  Had I been holding it when I moved to the scanner?

I re-traced my steps through the kitchen to the studio.  The pen was nowhere in sight.  Thus began a search of the house, even checking places I probably had not been while holding the pen.  No luck.

Ordinarily, the pen lives in one of the containers on my worktable, but I'd already glanced through them prior to the house search and hadn't found it.  I came back out to the porch and cleaned and reorganized the table.  No pen.  

About the time I started to cuss out loud, I saw it.

Right there, where it's supposed to be, the whole time, unless Herman the Trickster has been here this morning. 

At least I got 10-15 minutes of "exercise" in conducting the search.  ;)

But now I'm plumb out of the mood to paint.

* * * * * * * * 

This morning (right in the middle of this post), I planted ginseng seeds in our backyard.

A couple of weeks ago, I planted ginseng roots and a little patch of ginseng seeds in the woods between our house and the pond.  I had a lot of seeds left after planting the little patch.  Ginseng would probably thrive in the gulley behind our house, but I am not about to go down there.  It is treacherous.

It lately occurred to me that the area directly behind our back porch might have the right growing conditions for ginseng - mostly shady, well-drained, loamy soil.  So I put some seeds there this morning.  Thickly.

Still had a small handful left.  Chunked them down the gulley.  They landed on a carpet of last-year's leaves, as they would have done had they'd dropped naturally from a stem.  More leaves will fall on top of them in the coming weeks.  Maybe they'll take root and grow.

* * * * * * * * 

I need to go to the grocery store.  

The Husband and I are in a slump when it comes to eating.  We can't think of anything we WANT to eat that we SHOULD eat.  Lately, we've been cheating, re-visiting foods from by-gone days, like Cheesy Macaroni Hamburger Helper.  A Chef Boyardee Pizza ain't out of the question.  Last night, we had leftover chicken alfredo with leftover pork loin chunks added to it, along with a salad made from anything in the vegetable drawer that wasn't floppy, slimy or growing fur.  We put the leftover leftover alfredo back in the refrigerator.  The salad's going to the compost pile.  

I could use a little culinary inspiration.  

Life's Big Problems - October 15, 2025

Today on social media, I saw a post from a young mother of a two-year-old boy who has developed the habit of chewing on the neck of his shirt.  Everywhere they go, his shirt is wet.  She can't figure out how to stop him from doing it and asked her friends for advice.  

A friend my age (we are now both grandmothers) had a problem with her 5-year-old son rubbing his pee-pee to help him fall asleep at kindergarten naptime.  The teacher was complaining.  At the time, being a young, inexperienced mother, myself, all I could suggest was to get him a rabbit's foot keychain to keep in his pocket to rub, instead.  (Someone who actually has a pee-pee probably finds this solution preposterous.  <shrug>)

About that same time, I was struggling with a two-year-old who twisted my hair while he sucked his thumb.  He slept in the bed with us (for longer than I ever imagined when I let him sleep with us when he was sick).  He would twist my hair all the way to my scalp, slurping and smacking on his thumb, right next to my ear.  It drove me INSANE, and when I would make him quit, he'd roll over and twist The Husband's hair.  It was a nightly battle that resolved itself only when he was old enough to reason that he was physically too big to sleep with us.  (By that time, his brother had joined the crowd, and nobody could roll over; we kicked them both out of our bed at the same time.)

I just laughed about the shirt-chewer, and hoped that this is the worst trouble he'll ever give her.  :)

   

Yesterday's lunch with The Old Boss was relaxed and fun.  We made tentative plans for a day-trip to see a mutual friend.  

I guess I should stop calling her the "The Old Boss," since I no longer have a current boss.  :)

I stopped by the community garden on my way home, planning to just look at the peas and squash.  But the peas needed picking, and there were a couple of small squash, so I went to work.  Picked almost 10 pounds, altogether.  Wonder what portion of that weight was pea HULLS?  

All of the food that we grow in the community garden goes to the food bank.  I doubt the volunteers will shell the peas before they give them away.  I hope they don't.  I'd like for the families to experience pea-shelling and eating freshly-shelled peas.

Old-timers sometimes made jelly with the pea hulls.  My friend made some to see what it's like; she said it might be an acquired taste but was pretty in the jar., a beautiful shade of lavender  :)   She gave a taste to the person who had introduced her to pea-hull jelly; she said he closed his eyes, savored the bite, and said the jelly was taking him back to his grandmother's kitchen.  She gave him the jar.  

It's unlikely that the recipients of the community garden peas will be making jelly with the hulls.  In the first place, nobody knows how to do it, and in the second place, these pea hulls are not very purple.  A dull brick red is about all they can muster.  They wouldn't make pretty jelly.  

Cousin Roger called yesterday afternoon.  I like Cousin Roger, so I answered.  He said, "Hey.  Whatchoo doin?"  I said, "Nothin'.  Whatchoo doin?"  He said, "Nothin'."  Then he said he bought some new elastic-waistband pants to wear to his class reunion this weekend and can't get them up past his butt.  He wondered if I could do something with them, maybe put some more elastic in them, or something.  I imagined myself trying to put on a pair of elastic-waist pants and being unable to get them past my butt, and considered what it would take to get them all the way up.  I said, "Naw, Roger, I ain't that good."  

In retrospect, I should've told him to bring them on over here and I'd see what I could do.  I could've split those pants down the back and sewn in a big V-shaped piece of quilting fabric in bright colors.  I swear, I'd do it today if I had more gumption, just to see what he'd say.  

He'd probably wear them to the reunion if I did it with Tennessee orange-and-white-checkered fabric.  

I don't plan on doing any sewing today.  I *could*.  There's a stack of lavender quilt blocks on my sewing machine table, ready to have the hexagon flowers appliqued to the background fabric.  But I ain't feeling it.  The problem is that these 24 quilt blocks are only half of the blocks required to make the whole quilt, and I have not firmly decided the design of the other half.  My original plan for the remaining 24 blocks was not very imaginative; the sample block didn't "pop" with the hexagon flower blocks.  So I may do something different.  But that's a job for when cold weather drives me indoors.

Last week, I re-did the portrait of Granddaughter #2, but in chalk pencil instead of wax pencils.  It is sooooo much easier to blend the skin tones with chalk.  I have not done the background, and may not do one, since the paper is a light, muted green color.  A couple of days ago, I started Granddaughter #3's portrait in chalk.  It still needs a little work.  Granddaughter #1 is up next.  She will be easy (I think).  I'm saving #4's portrait for last, since her mass of curly brown hair will be the biggest challenge of the four.

2nd Tuesday - October 14, 2025

It's the 2nd Tuesday of the month, the day on which my former boss and I have a standing date to meet for lunch.  

Yesterday, I almost over-booked myself for today.

Another art class, a 4-week drawing/perspective class, was scheduled to begin today, and I wanted to go.  It was to start at 1 p.m. and last until 3 p.m.  Lunch with the boss is at noon and is 10 minutes away from the art class.  I texted The Boss to ask if we could meet at 11:30 instead of noon.  

While I had my phone in my hand, I called my cousin, an 82-year-old woman who teaches a weekly line dance class.  (She also teaches weekly tap dance classes.)  I wanted to join the line dance class (don't laugh) purely for the exercise and to get my reclusive ass out of the house.  Cousin Kay didn't answer - I knew she wouldn't - but I left a voice message.  She called me back a few minutes later, as I was driving to town to check on the community garden.  She'd love for me to join the class, she said.  It starts at 2:30 today and is 5 minutes from the art class.  To get to the dance class on time, I'd have to leave the art class early.

We talked all the way to town (had to catch up on the family gossip, you know).  I ended up telling her I'd see her in November.  By November, I will probably have forgotten about it . . .  or maybe chickened out.  She told me that the class often performs at nursing homes and community events (she referred to these performances as "shows").  There's only 4 or 5 of them, all of them in the neighborhood of 80 years old.  They wear matching sparkly costumes.  I'm not sure I'm up for all of that.  

I went on to town, dropped off some stuff at Goodwill, took my laptop back to the county IT guy, checked on the community garden.  I could've picked a few peas, but they should be ok on the vines until a few more ripen.  Somebody else had already picked the squash.  :-|  

Anyway . . . . 

About the time I got home from town, I learned that the art class has been put off until next week.  

I still hadn't heard from The Boss by that time, so I texted her and told her to ignore my previous text.  She finally replied this morning.  We're on for noon.

I spent the rest of the afternoon battling flying insects on the back porch.  The stink bugs are out in force, as are a zillion moths that apparently hatched out of a bucket of bird seeds.  They're driving me crazy, buzzing past my head and even landing on me.  The old stand-by Dyson vacuum cleaner is plugged in on the porch, and whenever a stink bug zooms past me and lands on the screen, I grab the vacuum and suck it up.  Do not try this with a vacuum cleaner that you intend to use inside the house.  Once in the canister, the stink bugs loose their juice jets, and the air coming out of the vacuum cleaner is foul.  Odor-wise, it would be less stinky to just swat the stink bugs, but then I'd miss that satisfying thump as they go down the vacuum cleaner hose.

It's harder to vacuum the moths.  

I had no idea these things would hatch out of bird seeds.  The seeds are in a clear plastic bin with a tight-fitting lid.  The bin is in a chair on the back porch, and one day, when the sun was shining just right, I saw moths swarming inside the bin.  I take it outside when I want to open it, but they are somehow getting out and are zooming around inside the porch.  

They are agile and very hard to catch in the air with the vacuum cleaner hose.  

Long Weekend - October 13, 2025

Friday morning, I hauled myself to the community garden to see if anything needed picking.  Someone had already picked my squash.  I picked two small ones and a plastic grocery bag full of peas.  The squash plants looked terrible.  Squash bugs and mildew have wreaked havoc, but there was new growth.  I pruned the old diseased leaves and hauled them out of the garden.

The cabbages I planted in our yard are still surviving.  

Saturday, I did some household chores, one of which was to empty a chair in our bedroom that had become a catch-all place.  The chair, itself, was full, and spilling over.  The Husband had bagged up some clothes to be donated but somehow could not find the time to drop them off.  Next to the chair was a box of files and notebooks that I had accumulated while I was working, as well as the laptop I'd used while working for the county.  I hauled everything, clothes and all, to my car.  

This morning, I'm going to town to distribute all that stuff.  After that, I'm going to the community garden to pick peas.

Lentil Bread - October 9, 2025

Last week, among the videos YouTube suggested to me, was a recipe for bread made from red lentils, no wheat at all.  It was said to be high in protein, fiber, and vitamins.  

We struggle with healthy breakfasts around here.  The Husband and I were not raised on fresh fruit and yogurt; we woke up to sausage gravy & biscuits, cinnamon toast with sugar and butter, bacon, Captain Crunch, bacon.  This lentil bread looked like something healthy that might suit us both.

I watched the entire video and wrote down the recipe, then added the ingredients to my grocery store list. One ingredient, psyllium husks, had to be shipped.  In the video, the cook used an immersion blender to grind up the lentils.  I've wanted an immersion blender but have never had one, so I ordered one of those, too.  The psyllium husks and the immersion blender arrived on my doorstep yesterday.  I went straight to work on the bread.

The first step was to soak the lentils for an hour or so.  Without checking the recipe, I dumped the whole one-pound bag into a bowl and covered them with water.  Two hours later, I pulled out the recipe and saw that it called for one cup of DRIED lentils, but I'd already soaked them all.  Had to google to find out how many WET lentils equaled a cup of dried lentils.  (FYI, one cup of dried lentils equals 2 to 2.5 cups of cooked lentils.)

Things went downhill from there.  

Long story short, I made mistake after mistake, such as dumping the leavening ingredients into the bowl of extra beans instead of the food processor (which I'd decided to use instead of the immersion blender since I had not yet washed it).  In the end, into the oven went two loaf pans of bread batter, one of them not quite as full, each of which contained a questionable quantity of ingredients.  They came out of the oven just about the time The Husband got home from work.  

The bread wasn't too bad.  But it wasn't too great, either.  It came out half (or less) of the height of the bread in the video - *maybe* 2" tall.  Maybe my loaf pan was bigger.  The bread held together well enough to be sliced, but despite the parsley, cheese, and garlic that went into it, it didn't have much taste.  

Here's the sad part: 

The thing that made me want to make the bread in the first place was not so much the bread, itself, as the yogurt-based spread they made to go with it.  Yogurt, fresh mint, lemon, toasted sesame seeds, other stuff, smeared on a slice of the bread.  The bread, itself, had yogurt in the batter.  I had bought enough yogurt to make one loaf of bread AND the spread.  Of course, having made TWO loaves of bread, I'd used all of the yogurt and couldn't make the spread.  

We'll eat the rest of the bread - at least one of the loaves - with dinners.  But I probably won't be having it for breakfast until I can put some yogurt spread on it.

* * * * * * * * 

It's chilly on the back porch this morning.  My hands are cold.  I need to think of something to do inside until it warms up.  

On my sewing table are the portraits of The Grandchildren.  Technically, I could call each of them "finished."  The Granddaughters' portraits were done in colored pencil on mixed media paper, the Grandson's in chalk pencil on pastel paper.  I would like to do all of them again in chalk pencil, preferably on pastel mat, which I don't have in the house right now.  

The yard needs mowing, but ever since I ran over a mole trap with the lawnmower, the mowing is now The Husband's job.

Maybe I'll just paint.

Slim Pickin's - October 8, 2025

It was drizzling yesterday morning when I got to the community garden.   I put on my gardening hat and picked a few peas and a few squash.  Someone else had picked the volunteer melons in the pea plot while I was gone.  The squash plants looked bad, yellow.  The pea plants were loaded with pods, but not many of them were ready to pick.  I do believe that the peas are not purple hull peas, as I originally thought.  The pods never get purple, only a sickly pinkish-yellow.  They must be some type of cowpea.  

My grocery store order was ready by the time I finished in the garden.  The Husband went to work late, so he was here to help haul the groceries to the kitchen when I got back.  Spent nearly $200, and still don't have much to eat in the house. 

It's hard to shop for groceries when you can't think of anything you'd like to eat.  I need some exciting new recipes.

Last Monday, I made spaghetti, thinking we'd have leftovers for a couple of days.  In the sauce, I used a package of meat from our freezer.  No telling how long it had been in there, but it looked OK and smelled OK.  As we were eating, The Husband said, "This spaghetti tastes a little . . . strange."  I guess the meat was a little freezer-burned, after all.  We ate what was on our plates, but after dinner, I dumped the rest of the spaghetti in the garbage and had to re-think dinners for the rest of the week.  

Our recent road trip interrupted my artistic mojo.  I took some art supplies on the trip and did some sketching and watercolor painting on the cabin porch, but I was not very inspired.  The view from the porch was of the rooftops of a dozen other cabins sticking up between the trees, with mountains in the background.  The fall colors hadn't set in yet, so the view was mostly green (including the cabin roofs).  Didn't make for very interesting art.  

I need something to do, something fascinating.  Wonder what that would be?

Home - October 7, 2025

We've made it home from our trip to east Tennessee.  

We stayed in a huge cabin near Gatlinburg with about five other families, all friends and relatives of the bride and groom.  The wedding was lovely and sweet, and the company was enjoyable.  The weather could not have been better.  

BUT.

There was an event in town, a gathering of car owners driving little cars with loud tailpipes that emitted noises like gunshots.  Traffic was a nightmare.  We had to make a grocery store run Friday afternoon, and it took us over 30 minutes to go 5 miles.  Saturday night, there was a fight among some of the drivers, resulting in the cancellation of some big event scheduled for Sunday.  Evidently, many of the folks went home, for Sunday was quieter.

We started home yesterday but stopped in Knoxville to have breakfast with Granddaughter #1.  We pulled into our driveway about 4:30 yesterday afternoon.  I was in bed by 9.

I did a walk-about in the yard before I went to bed.  Either the rabbit has not discovered the cabbages or it doesn't like them, for they are still standing.  

I need to go check on my community garden plots this morning to see if anything needs to be picked.  I've also scheduled a grocery store order to be picked up between 9 and 10.  It's raining sporadically right now.  Hopefully, I can catch a break in the rain to pick the vegetables and unload the groceries.

It's so good to be home.

Killing Time - October 2, 2025

We'll be starting a road trip in a couple of hours.  I've been up since 5.  My stuff is packed and ready to load into the truck.  The Husband won't be ready for another two hours, so I've got some time to kill.  

Nanny is going with us.  

It's gonna be a long day.

My art bag is packed for watercolor and for drawing with chalk pencils:  pencils, sharpener, sketchbooks, pastel paper, erasers.  Kindle.  Chargers.  If I keep finding stuff to add, I'll need help carrying it.

I just had a walk-about in the yard, checking on the cabbages.  Nothing ate them last night.  

In the tray with the cabbage seedlings were about 8-10 peat pots of broccoli seedlings.  The broccoli got a much later start than the cabbages; they are very small and spindly.  Yesterday, I came this close to dumping them in the compost heap but re-considered.  This morning, I watered them and set the tray back out in the sun to be dealt with when I come home, if they haven't dried up by then.

I meant for both the cabbages and the broccoli to be planted in the community garden when the peas and squash play out.  But, really, it will be easier to grow them here, where I can check on them without having to drive for miles. 

While on my walk-about, I had to admire the lantana.  I have tried and tried to grow lantana, but it never survived.  This year, I bought two plants in 6" pots, and my niece gave me one.  I accidentally broke a limb off one of them and stuck it in the ground to see if it would take root, and it did!  And it's thriving, and so are all of the "store-bought" ones.  When it gets cold, I am going to mulch them heavily in the hope they'll come back next year.

  

Cabbages in the ground - October 1, 2025

In early July, I started cabbage plants from seeds.  It took them forever to come up, and they were spindly.  About a month ago, I transplanted them into bigger pots and fed them and moved them to a sunnier spot.  They shot up and grew big leaves, but they're still kind of spindly.  I'm tired of fooling with them, so today I planted them around the edge of the phlox bed.  

A rabbit will probably eat them now that they're at ground level.

Yesterday was my final chalk pastel class.  I'm kind of disappointed that it's over.  We did not make much art in class.  The instructor would spend a few minutes discussing specific painters or paintings, then she'd pass out laminated copies of paintings for us to use as a reference for the remaining class time.  We tried different types of chalk - hard, soft, pencils, pans - from each other's stash to get an idea of which we liked best.  After yesterday's class, the instructor and a classmate had a long lunch together.  It was fun.

Today, I'm working on The Grandson's portrait, which I'm doing with chalk pencils.  He currently looks a little like Church Lady.  ;)