Thursday This n That - Late Again

Yep, totally forgot yesterday was Thursday.  That's okay, though, because yesterday morning, I was busy making this...

German chocolate cake.  My first.  My last.  I don't actually like German chocolate cake. But it's not for me anyway, so it's all good.  Next up will be a triple chocolate cake with strawberry frosting.  Cuz that's what mama needs.  LOL

I don't know.  It looks kinda short to me.  9" round pans instead of 8" round.  :shrug;  Eh, it eats the same.  Hey, it was my first layer cake in like 25 years.  Cut me some slack. LOL

I'm still not quite sure how I'm going to transport it.  :shrug:  As long as it doesn't slide around in the car and I don't drop it in the parking lot, it's all good.

Anyhooway... 

It snowed last night.  I haven't looked yet, but Hubs told me, so it must be true.  Blerg.

I'm reading Time of the Hunter's Moon by Victoria Holt.  One of my favorite books from my youth is by Victoria Holt - The King of the Castle - so I snagged this when I saw it at the thrift store.  Do I love it? Not so much.  I mean, it's okay, but it's not thrilling me the way the other book did.  Maybe I'm just older and less likely to be thrilled.  

On my way to work on the other morning, I saw a doe in the road not too far from the house, so I slowed down to a crawl.  She moved and then another doe walked out of the woods into the road.  Still crawled.  She moved off.  Seconds later, a buck popped out of the woods, so I stopped.  He stood on the side of the road staring at me. Finally I started to crawl forward again and he startled like my slowly moving car had spooked him and he raced across the road in front of me.  THIS this is why when you see one deer cross the road, you never assume it's alone.  If I had I would've hit that buck.  

He was magnificent, by the way.

Okay, I think I'll call it.  I've gotta get cleaned up and ready for work now.  Plus, I've run out of things to say and I still have a couple blogs to visit.  Later days, dudes.

Thursday This n That

Yesterday while I was out running errands, a neighbor stopped by with a big coffee cake thing to thank Hubs for something.  Streusel goodness on the top, stuffed with a cheesecakey type mixture.  So yummy.  But it needs something fruity.  I'm thinking cherry pie filling.  Or strawberry.  I forgot something at Wallyworld, so I'll be heading to Dollar General anyway.  

Heh, like either of us needs coffee cake or pie filling.  Eh, who cares?  I'm eating it.  Test me, and I'll put ice cream on it, too, just for spite.  LOL

I've spent the past two days basically on my ass.  Here in the desk chair or in the recliner or in the car.  I wasn't feeling bad, I'm just lazy.  But, here's the kicker... I am stiff and sore today.  I have to move this body or bad things happen.

Getting older blows.  But it's better than the only alternative reality offers us.  Wouldn't it be great if we could just stay a good age physically while we grow mentally?  Alas, it doesn't work that way.  We age, we corrode, shit falls apart.  In my misspent youth, I used to say something like 'I don't care about my body.  It's just there to carry my brain around.'*  Well, stupid, it's not good for carrying around your brain if you don't take care of it.  Like maintenance on your car.  If you don't do basic maintenance, it won't be able to carry you around for as long as it should.  Derp.  Sometimes I'd like to go back in time and flick my younger self in the ears.  

*Of course, I was saying that before my car accident when both my body and my brain took a hit.  

My mom and I have been enjoying some lovely chats lately.  Going over the past - both hers and mine.  I like to think talking with her about all those things from long ago helps keep her sharp.  I know it helps keep me sharp.  And she's been telling me stories I'd never heard before, which is awesome.  I'm getting stories about her time as an Air Force wife and her time stationed with Dad in France.  Post -WWII Europe stories and pre-Vietnam stories.  Interesting stuff.  I should probably write it down somewhere so it doesn't get lost.

One thing we were talking about yesterday was my childhood and how I lost most of my memories of it in the car accident.  About the only memories I have of certain portions of it are the bad parts.  Bad stuff sticks more firmly than good stuff, doncha know.  I don't have any good memories of my grandmother, for instance.  Oh, Grandma was a pip, but she couldn't have been all bad.  I just wish I could remember the good times with her.  Dudes, hang onto your memories tight.  You'll miss them when they're gone.

And on that wise note, I'll let you go for today.  Have a great one.  And if you aren't doing anything worth remembering today, take a moment and reminisce.  Jus' sayin'.

Thursday This n That

Last night, as I was trying to sleep, my brain decided it would be good to bombard me with ideas for the book.  I got up and wrote some down, which is usually enough to get my brain to shut up, but no, not last night.  I had more ideas after I laid back down.  I did not get up again.  Probably should've though because I wasn't sleeping anyway. 

Today I have to take a roadtrip to UPS.  One of the downsides of living in the boonies is going to UPS requires a roadtrip.  (Shut up, spellcheck, roadtrip should be one word.)  So, later this morning, after I shower and wake the hell up, Owl and I will load into the car and head out.  45 minutes there, 45 back over twisting, winding hillsides, and at one point, over the lake.  Hubs suggested we stop and have lunch.  Then I reminded him of the 'rona.  Umm, nopers.  Stupid 'rona.

I hate having to enter my password again, so to avoid that, if I even think I've fatfingered it, I go back and retype the whole thing.  Which is basically the same as having to enter it again.  I'm so weird sometimes.

If someone had told me thirty years ago that I would be this concerned with the size, frequency, and consistency of my cat's poop, I would've laughed in their face.

Despite being billed as 'fishing sunglasses', my new pair is not polarized.  Damn them.  How am I supposed to watch the little fishies in the water if my glasses aren't polarized?  I got spoiled by my last polarized pair.  =o(

I want cake.  Yesterday, I had a choice - make cake or make granola bars for Hubs.  I made granola bars because he's been out of them for a few days now.  But, man, do I ever want cake.  Maybe tomorrow since my morning today is full.

The other day we had a brown out, which happens often here, and my battery backup did it's job, except my monitor went off and wouldn't come back on.  So, I turned the battery backup off to reset everything.  My computer went off.  I swear it did.  When I turned it 'back on', it came out of some kind of weird 'sleep mode' and my programs were all still open, even my browser which still had me sitting at a poker table in a hand I would've won if the site hadn't timed me out.  I think this new computer has a battery in it.  Or something.  I would understand if it were a laptop, but it's a desktop.  Weird.  Anyway, I was totally weirded out.  :cue Twilight Zone music:

Okay, I suppose I should get my ass in gear and get some things done before I have to roadtrip.  (Added to dictionary as one word. Take THAT.)  Got any this n that's to add to the day?

Thursday This n That

We're hitting Wallyworld today.  Should be interesting.  The Owl has all sorts of fashion statement masks she ordered online to choose from.  I will still be maskless unless they make me wear one.  (I still have one in the car.)  The plan today is to go in, get everything that doesn't require refrigeration, put it in the car.  Then go back in and get all the perishable stuff.  It's supposed to be wicked hot again, so the plan is necessary.  Since I already picked up deer food last week, we should have plenty of room in the car.  :fingers crossed:

We're also supposed to get a storm system rolling through, so I have to get my butt in gear and get the shopping done early.  Blerg.  I need more coffee.

Our daylilies are thriving.

I've been coveting this bunch of daylilies for a while now because we thought they were on the neighbor's property.  Then the neighbor got his property surveyed and they're actually ours.  Yay.

The world is such a fucked up place right now.  Look for the beauty where you can find it. 

I might make a cake today.  I need cake.  My ass doesn't need cake, but the rest of me does.  Chocolate oil, I think.  I already bought frosting because I knew I wouldn't feel like making it.  I have cream cheese frosting and chocolate frosting.  We'll see which way I go.  Woohoo.

Not much else going on right now.  Ranty stuffs.  So, I'll leave it here without going into that.  Got anything on your this-n-that list today?

Thursday This n That

Yesterday afternoon, I got a wild hair and made cake from scratch.  And then last night, I made frosting from scratch.  Unfortunately, the frosting kind of took on a mind of its own and I probably have enough leftover to frost an entire other cake.  No, I did not do this for Easter dessert.  I did it because I wanted cake.  The cake turned out a little dense, but the frosting is to die for.

Speaking of Easter, I didn't even think about it until I realized earlier this week that it is, in fact THIS SUNDAY.  So, I asked Hubs what he wanted to do about dinner and he shrugged.  And then I shrugged.  Guess I don't have to panic then, huh?  We're not doing anything.  We pretty much deleted ham from the diet.  We stopped eating holiday candy.  I've been making all sorts of yummy things, so making something yummy Sunday wouldn't be super-special.  Meh.  Easter was more fun when the Kid was still living at home.  And I could gorge myself on Robin's Eggs.

I think Ms. Packrat is gone for good.  :knocks on wood:  Here's what I used: about 60 drops of peppermint essential oil and probably about that much of clove essential oil with lavender and cedarwood in a 32 oz spray bottle with about 16 oz of water.  (The peppermint said 20 drops per 5oz of water.)  Screwed the nozzle back and shook the hell out of it.  Sprayed liberally all over inside my engine compartment, paying special attention to the underside of the hood and the specific places the rat was nesting.  I do this every evening around sunset - which is when she starts getting active.  Fingers crossed it keeps working.  We're going to try an experiment and stop after a week.  See if she comes back.  If she does, back to spraying every day.  If not, every few days until we're pretty sure she's not coming back. 

I'm hoping the spray also keeps the deer from eating my lilies.  Wouldn't that be lovely?  Couldn't hurt, eh?

Also, I read somewhere that moles don't like coffee, so I bought some cheap coffee grounds and sprinkled them all over my gardens.  Time will tell if it works.

Saw my first hummingbird of the year.  I put the feeder out and the next day, a hummer.  Yay!

Okay, that's probably enough out of me.  What's up with you?