Saturday? - September 28, 2024

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

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

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

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

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

Helene - September 27, 2024

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

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

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

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

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

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

  

Benefits (continued) - September 24, 2024

The most interesting thing just happened.

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

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

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

I'm not going over there.

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

The Benefits of Porch Sitting - September 23, 2024

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

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

* * * * * * * * 

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

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

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

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

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

We used SIXTY GALLONS of water.  

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

But we held our tongues.  Mostly.  ;)

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

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

I just snarled.   ;)

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

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

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

*Snarl*

 

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

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

So late yesterday morning, we got on it.  

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

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

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

And me with a bad knee.  

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Long Week - September 20, 2024

This has been the longest week.  

Phase II is moving at a right smart pace, but the end is still distant.  

I'm in a 20 x 40 (?) room, lined on all 4 sides with either shelves or file cabinets.  When I got there, the floor, except for one small area, was stacked 3 and 4 deep with file boxes.  Inside those boxes were old files that needed to be put in numerical order and placed in the cabinets.  There was one 8' long worktable set up in the middle of all that.  It, too, was piled with boxes.

I cleaned off the table and started opening boxes.

More than half of the files had no number on them.  Some didn't even have names.  I pulled out the numbered files, sorted them by year, and put them in the file cabinets.  The "mystery" files went into their own boxes, which I moved out of the room as I filled them.  When I'd filled up about a dozen boxes, I spoke to the person in charge of the files about the mystery file problem, explaining that the numerical ordering cannot not begin until all the files are numbered.  Although he said he'd send someone to look at them, I knew that if those files were to be straightened out any time soon, I would have to do it.  So when I opened the next box in the workroom, I began to go through the individual files, looking for the numbers, writing them on the jackets.  Some did not have a number on anything in the file - true mysteries.

I found a lot of loose paper, too.  Lazy murffs.

There are less than 10 boxes awaiting inspection on the workroom floor.  I should be able to knock those out in a day or two, but those dozen "mystery" boxes must be gone through, file by file, to pull out the ones that I can number.  

Some of the cabinets contain files already grouped by year, but they're in alphabetical - not numerical - order.  I will have to take these out of the cabinets and re-sort them. 

Once the files are sorted by year, they'll have to be sorted by date and time.  It's a mind-boggling stream of numbers. 

But first I have to get all the boxes emptied.

Thank goodness for margarita night.

Art Class - September 15, 2024

The knee is better., and I've had a productive morning.  Fried two pounds of bacon, cooked breakfast, made a batch of savory breakfast muffins (with some of the bacon) to last all week, put some the rest of the cooked bacon in the freezer, and put a roast in the crockpot for supper tonight and tomorrow.  

The roast may/may not turn out well.  Yesterday on a PBS cooking show, the cooks made a brisket in the crockpot.  Besides the meat, the only other ingredients were (I THINK!) a can/jar of whole berry cranberry sauce and a packet of dried onion soup.  I tuned in just as they were dumping the jar of sauce, but not in time to hear what kind it was.  Looked like cranberries to me, though.  But it didn't look nearly as thick and gelatinous as what I dug out of my can of whole berry sauce this morning.  So maybe it wasn't cranberry sauce they were dumping.

The other thing is that the grocery store didn't have a brisket, so, on the advice of the butcher, I substituted a chuck roast.  I've cooked a mountain of chuck roasts, and I know what it's going to do in the crockpot.  It's going to crumble and will never hold up to slicing like the TV roast.  It was definitely the visual - thick slices with pretty berry glaze drizzled on top - that got me.  

I'm still not too confident about the cranberry sauce/soup combination, but we'll see.

We got the Cherokee out of the shop yesterday.  It was the power steering pump.  Thank goodness it wasn't the whole motor.

Yesterday morning it was raining, and I did nothing but goof around on the computer, mostly watching art videos.  There's something to be said for watching fewer videos and creating more art, I concede.  But the ones I watched yesterday boosted my perspective drawing skills a LOT.  

Drawing Fundamentals - YouTube

He also has tutorials on watercolor painting.  I've watched almost all of them.

It's raining again today.  I think I'll watch the rest. :)