Thursday This n That

I was getting ready to head off on my errands when I heard something outside that made me turn and look out the window.  There were vultures on top of my car.  I called out to Hubs.  By the time he walked from the office to the front, even more vultures had landed on my car.  There had to be a dozen on it and several more on the ground around it.  He opened the door and they didn't fly away.  We actually had to go out and chase them off.  I was thinking some critter had died either under or in the engine compartment of my car.  (Flashback to years ago when I had a packrat making a home in there.)  We opened up everything.  I expected the smell of dead rodent to hit me.  Nope.  No smell.  No body.  Nothing.  Meanwhile, our trees are full of vultures and they aren't inclined to leave.  I'm not into omens, but the whole drive to Wallyworld, I was wondering if my car would die.  I made it home in one piece, the car did fine, and when I got home Hubs was fine, too.  No clue what the hell that was all about.

Also, yesterday morning, the coyotes were going crazy out there. Their yips and yodels and shrieks kept getting closer until suddenly, the sound stopped.  A few seconds later, a single coyote howled like a wolf would howl.  Then it did it again.  Then a third time.  I figure they caught what they were chasing and the one 'yote was calling the others to breakfast.

And then yesterday afternoon, the squirrels were freaking out.  The gray squirrels here do a sort of 'cough cough, squeeeal kind of call.  Several of them were doing it at the same time off the back of our yard.  It was weird day for animals, lemme tell ya.

No, it's not a full moon.  It is, in fact, a new moon.  Not sure what that means, in reference to all of the above.  Right now, everything is quiet, but it's early yet.

Yes, Halloween is approaching.  Yes, everything above really happened.

In other news, we watched an awesome movie yesterday - The Whole Truth.  It stars Keanu Reeves as a defense attorney tasked with trying to get a teenager acquitted of the charge of murdering his father (a vile and nasty man played by Jim Belushi of all people).  It was tense and twisty and twisted, with an ending we certainly didn't see coming.  Wow.  (And holy shit, when I was getting the link for the movie, I found out the mom was played by Renee Zellweger.  I thought she looked familiar, but she barely looks like the gal in Jerry Maguire.  :shocked face:)

Okay, I think that's it.  Got anything for me?

Thursday This n That

 I woke up late, hurried through some marketing, and called Mom.  Then I forgot I needed to post until I saw a friend talking about how her post was late today.  I'm so derpy sometimes.  Anyway...

Yesterday, I spent the morning scrubbing the drip pans on my stove.  Bar Keeper's Friend is an amazing product for stuff like that, but it's not infallible, and these were pretty far gone after 12 years.  After a while, I gave up and ordered new ones.  And new burner covers... because at least once a year, I accidentally turn on the wrong burner and end up burning the cover over it.  (If you've never done this, all kudos to you, you awesome person.)  While I was looking for new covers - I got black, by the way - I saw someone selling WOOD burner covers.  That seems like a horrible idea, especially given my penchant for burning the damn things.  A metal one just gets discolored.  A wood one would set the whole damn place on fire.  

Do you use burner covers?  My mom doesn't, and I didn't used to, but I got tired of wiping off the damn burners after every meal, so I got burner covers.  I can throw those in the dishwasher, easy peasy.  I'm lazy that way.

We heard foxes in the woods yesterday.  I think I found a spot where they're making a den.  There's been this hole in the woods for years.  Just recently, I've noticed fresh excavation signs... like a big pile of dirt outside the hole.  No paw prints in it, but someone is making a home.  I do hope it's foxes and there's a female making a home.  Baby foxes!  Yay!

On the way out of our neighborhood the other morning, I came around a curve on a hill and up ahead were several vultures huddled around something in the ditch.  As I approached, the vultures flew off and that's when I noticed the bald eagle standing over whatever carrion was there.  When I got closer, the eagle tried to take off with the carcass still clutched in one foot.  He made three attempts to fly away and finally dropped the dead thing in the middle of the road.  He perched in a tree and watched me as I continued past.  He was gorgeous.  The perfect example of an adult bald eagle.  Breathtaking.  (Yes, Virginia, eagles are carrion eaters.  Not exclusively, but hey, a bird's gotta eat.)

My dogwood seeds are germinating.  I checked the baggie in the fridge and I can see several white 'hair's in there.  So, we have roots!  Yay!  Not sure about any of the other seeds.  Time will tell, I guess.  If all I get are dogwoods, I'll still be happy.  

Okay, I think that's enough out of me this morning.  Time to get on with the rest of my day, especially since I'm running behind.  Derp.

The Birds are Fine

Ya know, it is entirely possible to love nature and try to be responsible about it without turning into a raving eco-freak.  Derp.

One of the sites I follow is the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, cuz, like I'm a bird nerd.  This morning their headline was all about birds and how they're 'a multiplier for environmental justice'.  No clue what a multiplier is in this context, but :shrug: these people like to make up words or use words to mean other things.  

Anyway, the lead-in blurb talks about creating green spaces in cities so weary birds have a place to rest.  As if cities cover a bigger portion of the planet than they do.  Bird wants a place to rest?  They can easily steer left or right, avoiding whatever city is its path.  Or they can stop on the rooftops of whatever buildings they're passing by.  Derp.  Birds are versatile that way.

I just did a search - how much of the planet is covered by cities? Wow, the numbers are all over the place when you just look at the blurbs on the search page.  However, I think I found a more rational estimation.  It's .3%  Point three percent of the land mass.  Not the total planet.  (You know, because a big percent is covered by water, which would make that percent even smaller.)  

So, yeah.  

Even the larger estimates are only .6, although one obvious eco-freak site says 3% without the point.  Taking the hugely inflated number, that means that 97% of the land is city free.  

Basically, what I'm saying is don't worry about it.  The birds are fine.  They stay away from the cities whenever possible.  Like I do.  ;o)

Sunday Update - Week 31?

Sorry I'm late.  I don't really have anything to talk about.  It was a week.  It was busy at work and veggie at home.  (More of both in the coming week.)

I read one book and DNF'd several others.  I didn't bake anything.  I didn't do much in the way of activity and I only lost two tenths of a pound.  (Which I probably gained back after yesterday's see-food-eat-it festivities.)  We did just get back from a walk, so that's something.

If you missed it, I finally got my squeaky brakes fixed.  The silence is wonderful.

There's a doe around here with three fawns following her.  Not sure whether she had triplets or adopted some other doe's baby.  One is decidedly bigger than the other two.  We had a mama raccoon stop by this morning with three babies.  (It's not the same raccoon who came by with 4 the other day.  This mama is noticeably smaller.)  Someone ran over a copper head near the house.  :shudder:  Then this morning, we saw a dead Rough Green Snake (I assume it was this and not the smooth, because the smooth kind hasn't been seen in MO in a long time.  I did not touch it to verify my assumption) in the road. Bummer for that one because they aren't venomous and they eat bugs.

Other than that, it's been pretty quiet here.  Keeping my head down and working for the most part.  

How are things in your world?

Snoozy Squirrel

 In lieu of anything else, here's a snoozy squirrel...

Ah, the wonders of a good digital camera and a sun porch that overlooks the woods.  He's a good ways up in the black oak off the back of the house.  Zoomed in on him through the window after Hubs spotted him.  

As hot as it was for a bit there, I don't blame him for sacking out on a cool dead limb.  (And no, that's not his foot hanging underneath the limb.  It's a bit of branch.)  Usually the squirrels sit on that bit and bark at us.  It was too hot for barking.  

Thursday This n That

No, the Kansas City woman who was shot by police wasn't unarmed.  Check the bodycam footage.  It clearly shows the gun in her hand.  

No, seeing a bobcat in the daytime does not mean it's rabid.  Bobcats are not strictly nocturnal.   You can also see possums, raccoons, and foxes in the daytime without it meaning they're sick.

The number of rains we get in August doesn't equal the number of snows we get the following winter.  Neither does the number of cicadas equate to how harsh the winter is going to be.  Not sure about the woolly-bear stripes, but they're supposed to equate to length and harshness of winter.  We've been doing independent research on that one.  It's probably not true either.  

If a person is inclined to commit a crime with a gun, making that gun illegal isn't really going to be a stumbling block.  If a person is inclined to commit a crime, and there are no guns anywhere, they will still commit the crime.  The problem isn't the weapon, it's the philosophy and the culture that make committing crimes okay.  Taking guns away from law-abiding citizens because criminals use guns is stupid.

Socialism is a fancy word for enslaving everyone to the government.  Communism is a fancy word for enslaving everyone to everyone else (and also the government).  I don't want to be a slave to anyone and I don't want anyone to be a slave to me.  Got it?

Clay, the bald eagle rescued in OK with a damaged wing, is flying again.  He's so beautiful.  I'm not sure if they'll be able to release him even now, because I'm not sure if he can do sustained flight at altitude.  He may end up living out his life in an enclosure at some raptor rescue.  But at least he's not trapped on the ground anymore.

The secret to oak mite bites (at least for me):  If you have one, don't scratch it.  Wait until it itches so much you can't stand it anymore, then take your fingernail and gouge it out with one motion.  (Just enough to pop the blister... for godsakes, don't go crazy there... there doesn't need to be blood.)  Then soak it with rubbing alcohol and apply a Bandaid.  It should stop itching after that.  If it doesn't, repeat.  Yes, I have oak mite bites again, why do you ask?  

It seems like every time I meet someone with kids, at least one of them has ADHD.  Hell, they probably would've diagnosed me with it.  I was a hyper kid with focus issues.  Why?  I was bored, for one thing.  The other kids took longer to get the lesson than I did, so why they were still being taught something, I was already over it.  The other thing for me was sugar.  Mom took away most sugary things from me, just to save her sanity.  And when she saw I was bored, she gave me something to do.  Or made me go outside and play.  I wonder if it's the same for the kids today.  Just pondering.

A Prothonotary warbler couple has taken a liking to my little birdhouse.  Which is cool.  It's also made the front porch a hazard for other birds, because those PWs are extremely protective of their nests.  This does not bode well for the visitors to our suet and to our hummingbird feeder.  Getting dive-bombed by little yellow birds while you're trying to eat is probably not the most pleasant of experiences.  One poor baby wren decided it wanted to see what was in the birdhouse and P'Dubya (the male) took it down.  Oh, well.  If She'Dubya (the female) wants to raises babies there, I'll let her.  And then move the birdhouse after she's done with this brood, so our regular visitors don't continue to get harassed.

And that's more than enough out of me this morning.  What's on your radar today?

Thursday This n That

Facebook was actually useful this morning...

- Here's a pdf booklet on the care of wildlife so veterinarians can keep them alive while waiting on transfer to a rehabber.  (Never keep wildlife yourself.  Just keep them alive and as healthy as you can, but get them to someone who knows how to care for them ASAP.)  I saved it down because I never know when I might have to use the information.  I don't even know where there's a rehabber within 3 hours of here or whether any of my local vets take wildlife.  

- And here's the link to the YouTube videos of a child piano prodigy performing.  Definitely inspiring.  

I sat down to read a book last night and ended up DNF'ing 4 in a row.  I hate when that happens.

Trying to maintain a positive attitude is not an easy thing these days.  So, if you don't see me here or at your blogs, it's because I'm in a negative place and don't want to spread it around.  Negativity is a social disease, doncha know.  And penicillin don't help.

We had a death in the family.  It wasn't totally unexpected... I mean, the first part was kinda unexpected, but after that, we had a timeframe, so the very end wasn't a surprise.  It wasn't anyone close close to me.  I mean, I loved her and I remember her fondly, but it's not a deep hurt.  More like an 'aw, damn'.  Our moms and sibs and the kids are all fine and all that.  Sympathy cards have been purchased, flowers will be sent.  It kind of put me in a frame of mind to think about certain things, though.  Like not letting things, no matter how bad they may have been or may seem, keep you from communicating with the people who matter.  Unfortunately, it's a two-way street and both parties have to be on board with staying in touch.  But, yeah, dead is too late to repair the rift.  

We got like 2.3 inches of rain over the past few days.  Sploosh.  April showers bring May flowers.  And Mayflowers bring pilgrims. LOL

Amazon keeps trying to get me to sign up for Amazon Business.  Like that would be a thing for me.  Sure, I'm a business, but I don't really need business type stuff.  I'm down to the point where my expenses are almost nil.  Some printing costs - paper, ink.  Both of which I get at Wallyworld so I don't have to worry about shipping costs or time.  

Speaking of shipping, I ordered pesticide for the start of Tick-ma-geddon 2022.  The stuff was supposed to arrive from GA on Monday.  The tracking finally updated and it's headed this way from the hub in KS, but still no delivery date.  :shrug:  Why it went from GA to KS, passing MO entirely only to come back east, I have no clue.  The logistics is a nightmare.  Seems like a waste of fuel to me.  Eh, if I ran the world, it would've dropped into St Louis and then come here.  Like shipments out of TX always go past us into Kansas City and then come back south.  One would think if those dropped into Little Rock and then continued up, it would be so much more efficient.  :shrug:

And that's all I have to say about that.  I suppose I should get to doing something productive this morning.  But first! more coffee!

What say you on this fine morning?

Thursday This n That

Yesterday, I was getting ready to copy a snippet of SSS to share on someone's blog and noticed a typo.  It's okay.  I fixed it in all iterations of the book and uploaded them all.  But seriously.... After all the times I went through this manuscript... :pulls out Harakiri knife:  

Is it still called Harakiri or is it Seppuku now?  Asking for a friend.

We voted on Tuesday.  Two different 'raise your taxes to pay for things we don't need' issues.  We, of course, voted no.  And both of them, of course, passed.  One raised the sales tax.  The other raised the property tax.  yay.  With most everything outside our control getting more expensive, I can't fathom why people would actively vote for a increase in expenditures we can control.  Derp.  There was also a school board member thing.  We didn't vote for anyone because we didn't think any of them had a clue.  The incumbents lost, so that says something about people around here recognizing something is wrong, but from what we read about the two who got in, it'll be more of the same.  I hope I'm wrong.

A 93c head of lettuce is now $1.78.

In happier news, my peonies are coming up.  Unfortunately, they seem to be the only plants that survived being out of the ground for an extended period of time.  Mums... columbine... lariopes... all appear to be dead.  :shrug:

Wait, I was supposed to be doing 'happier news' there.  Umm...  Elmer the elm tree is starting to make branches, so he's not just a stick with leaves anymore.  And the baby cedars - Cecil and Cedric - are coming along nicely.  

The deer are starting to show their pregnancies.  Yay, fawns!  

I've been following a wildlife rescue in Oklahoma - Wild Heart Ranch.  (If you don't do FB, here's their website.)  They're pretty awesome.  And they're fighting the good fight.  Helping animals that can't help themselves - hurt animals, orphaned animals - and then releasing them back into the wild.  They got a baby beaver in the other day.  It's black.  =oO  Definitely not your normal beaver color.  And they have this crow they raised and then released who is amazing.  She's a free crow, but she doesn't want to leave, and she even helps out around the place.  (When she's not stealing things and leaving them on the roof. LOL)

I actually did some writing last night.  It pretty much sucks, but I have permission to do that.  It'll all work out in the end.

And before I start down the unhappier road again, I'll let you go.  What's on your this n that radar today?

Thursday This n That

I swear to god whoever's sneaking into our house at night and beating us in our sleep needs to stop. (This is not really happening.  It just feels like it.)

I taught Hubs how to make cake cookies last night.  He had a sweet tooth thing going on and I told him to go make cookies.  I ended up doing most of the work (which is not much work anyway), but now he knows how for future reference.  (Considering the fact that I am a total control-freak in the kitchen, this was a bigger deal than you think.)  I made them BIG because it was necessary.  And as soon as they were cool enough for the chocolate chips to not burn our mouths, we ate some.  Yay.  Warm chocolate chip cookies are da bomb.  

I'm also a control-freak in my car.  His car? Nope.  My car?  I'm in control, baby.

It might snow today.  And that's just about enough of that already.  Sheesh.

We've had a red-shouldered hawk hanging out around the yard lately.  I've named him Rufus.  Yesterday, I saw Beauregard in the woods.  (He's our resident broad-winged hawk.)  Luckily, I think they have different prey.  Unfortunately, I fear Beau might be prey in Rufus's eyes.  Hope not, but nature's a witch sometimes.

Did I tell you someone hit a beaver on the highway the other day?  There's a wet-weather creek right there leading to the lake, about 3/4 of a mile away, and for some reason the beavers cross the highway at that point.  No clue why.  I just know this is the second beaver that's been hit right there since we moved here.

My brother traps beavers in Michigan.  He provides a service for people whose land is being ruined by the pesky buggers and he takes the skinned carcasses to a raptor rehabilitator.  He also makes maple syrup.  This is probably a busy time for the maple thing and according to this, nearing the end of beaver season.  Plus, he works a 'full-time and then some' job.  Bro's a busy dude.  If more people had his drive, this world would be a better place all the way around.

We're a pretty industrious family.  Stop laughing.  I can be industrious.  =op  (I'm not, but I can be.)

I quit watching Grey's Anatomy cold turkey.  I'm not even sure why I liked it.  Don't even get me started on the dysfunctional relationships it regularly portrays as normal and good.  It's certainly addictive, though, which is why I had to stop cold turkey.  Like football.  I'm not a 'wean myself off' kind of person.  It's really hard to not walk in the living room right now and turn on the TV to watch it.  But I'm pushing through.

Speaking of dysfunctional relationships, I have had more than my fair share.  I was talking to Mom about it yesterday.  One in particular was especially nasty and I was telling her I still have nightmares.  They're only about once a year now, but they're always bad.  And no, he never hit me.  He just tormented me mentally and emotionally to the point where I thought about killing myself to get away from him.  And THAT was the point at which I realized I needed to get the hell away from him.  And I still tried to stay.  It took one more week of being treated like crap to put some starch in my spine and I was outta there.  Whew.  Did I learn?  Nope.  Fell into a similar relationship about 2 years later.  Eventually, I did learn, though, and I'm with Hubs.  Who is awesome, by the way.  

Wow, I was a little wordy there, wasn't I?  Got anything to share with me this morning?

Thursday This n That

The coffee is hot and strong today.  May yours be, too.

I finished looking up and saving all the songs I have written in my little notebook.  Then I shared some with Hubs last night.  He seemed to enjoy the video for Someone to You by BANNERS.  (Watch it all the way to the end.)

Yesterday, while I was on the phone with Mom, Hubs saw a coyote trotting through our woods.  He went to grab the camera, but the bugger was too fast.  We also saw an armadillo a few days before that.  Since the dude who used to kill critters died, and the gal who used to live-trap animals and move them moved herself,  the 'nuisance' animals are slowly coming back.

On the other hand, we've had a big brown dog wandering the neighborhood, too.  Someone we didn't recognize stopped yesterday and asked Hubs if he'd seen the dog, because it had gotten into their garage and stolen a bag of food.  As soon as she drove away, it wandered unconcerned past our house.  I hope it belongs to someone and isn't a drop-off.  Although, a dog as smart as that needs to be my dog... you know, if he doesn't already belong to someone.  I shall call him Rogue.

The unrecognized neighbor (after almost 9 years, we still haven't met most of the people in here, by the way) said Jerry tried to catch it but it ran away.  The only Jerry we could think of is old and doesn't strike us as a dog lover.  Then I remembered there's a female Geri on the other side of the hill who owns a corgi.  It was probably her.  (Turns out there's another dude Jerry, but he is also old and probably not spry enough to try and catch a dog.)  Funny how this gal we'd never met assumed we knew who she was talking about.  Anyway, we think she might belong to the house that's being remodeled.  

In our neighborhood, there are lakeside people and hill people.  They rarely associate with one another.  The gal who moved in next door has lived in the neighborhood for years, but at the beginning of the neighborhood.  (I've known her husband, but just met her.)  She doesn't know many of the people back in here either.  So, maybe there's a third group of people.  

It's an interesting dynamic in this little rural neighborhood, I tell ya.  Like the gal who used to be married to the guy across the street, but now she's married to a guy who lives down the hill.  I don't think I could live in the same neighborhood as any of my exs.  Hell, I don't live in the same state as any of them.  LOL

Okay, I should probably go do something constructive this morning.  Got any this-n-that going on in your neighborhood?

Sunday Update - Week 5

Welcome to Sunday.  For some reason, I keep waking up at 4am.  Which makes me want to go to bed extra early, which makes me want to wake up early... Blerg.

Anyhooways...

I'm making progress on Song of Storm and Shroud.  This third round of editing is not going any faster than the second, though.  Still, I'm at the part where I make notes and then enter them right away, instead of the part where I make all the notes and enter them when I reach THE END.  So, what I have now is pretty close to what's going to be there when it goes out to the world.  (Unless I go totally nuts and decide to make this one book into several by fleshing out shorter scenes and delving deep into the characters and the world.  Which would be kind of cool.  But if I do that, I'll never get this book done.  Except it might be better for it.  GAH!)  Anyway, I'm 49 pages into what is currently a 370 page Word file.

No marketing this week.  I'm too busy.  

No reading for the same reason.

I did do some baking, though.  I made white bread.  It turned out pretty good.  It could be better.  I screwed something up early on and I also probably should've kneaded it more.  Hubs likes it, so it's all good.  I also made no-bake cookies and added tiny pretzel sticks to them.  Those are tasty, but gargantuan, so eating one is like eating three or four.  

I also got some log work done.  That was 3 out of my 4 active days this week - sawing logs and working on restacking the stacks.  We've pulled out a fourth pallet and we're putting all the smaller wood pieces on that, which means taking the smaller wood pieces out of the other three pallets and restacking those.  

The fourth day was shoveling snow.  We got about 8 inches.  It looks pretty, but it also looks like the reason I left Michigan.  Derp.  

In other news, Beauregard the Broad-winged Hawk took down what I think was a Brewer's blackbird.  I got some awesome pics of him eating it in the snow.  

We've been having flocks of blackbirds (I think they're Brewer's) pass through over the last week or so.  Easy pickin's for a hawk like Beau.  

We're also having larger numbers of deer stop by.  The snow draws them in because they know they can get food here without having to dig through the white stuff.  I think we counted 24 at one point yesterday.  

Okay, we've been watching the Olympics.  I know, I know.  They shouldn't be holding an Olympics in China in the first place.  Here's my thinking on the subject:  The time to boycott this crap was when the Olympics committee was thinking about awarding China with the prize of holding this winter's games there.  When there was still time to change the location.  It's not like any of China's crap hasn't been going on for years.  So, the games are there now and our athletes - the ones who've been working for years to get to this point - are there now.  So, I'm watching.  If you want to hurt China, beat the crap out of their athletes by winning.  Win everything.  And highlight the dirty, rotten, nasty things China has done and is doing while celebrating the achievements of all the other athletes.  Not watching and not cheering on the good people who had no part in China's abuses doesn't hurt China.  It hurts the good people.  

And besides, I'm already boycotting so many things.  It's tiring.  I want to watch people achieving their goals and winning awards.  I want to get excited when they do something awesome.  The world is a shitty enough place.  Leave me alone with my little bright spots.  =op

Not much else going on here.  They still haven't plowed my road.  But I have nowhere to go, so I'm not that twicked about it.  (Twicked... it's something I used in my book, so I'm trying it out here.  On a personal note, I need to cut down on my swearing.  New neighbors have little ears and I swear a lot when I'm working outside.  It's not an easy task, lemme tell ya.)

Okay, your turn.  How was your week?  

Thursday This n That

I'm on Linked In and I occasionally get job listings in my email.  One yesterday sounded interesting - Remote Proofreader.  Cool.  I went over to look at it.  The listing was rife with weird characters and grammatical issues.  I wonder if they put it up that way as an initial test for people applying for the job.  Sort of an "if you can read this and fix it, you're the person for us.  ROFL  (There were parts of the job, once I parsed it out, that sounded hinky, so no.  And no, I'm not really looking for a job, but if something amazing came along, who knows?)

Today, the last of my books drops out of Kindle Unlimited.  I'll get it set up and uploaded to D2D this weekend.  

In case you're not on FB or you missed it, here's a pic of one of the foxes that traipsed through my yard a couple days ago:

Yeah, it saw me and bolted, so I didn't get a chance for a good pic.  If it hadn't stopped under that oak, I wouldn't have gotten one at all.  

Yesterday, I dusted and vacuumed everything but the office.  And now I'm sore.  That's just not fair.  Getting old sucks.  Sore or not, I'll get the office done today.

I also rearranged the spare room.  I put the exercise bike under the other window, so I have a view of the bird feeder while I ride.  Of course, moving that there meant I needed to move the table with my radio and cassettes next to it (for better indoor biking), but to do that I had to move the little bookshelf where I keep the stock of my paperbacks and also the plant stand and the chair.  Anyway, the room's like I want it.  For now.  Unfortunately, I was too tired to actually ride the damn bike yesterday.  Maybe today.

:sings: Maybe today, we can put the past away...

Funny how certain phrases can make a song instantly pop into my head.  That was Jumper by Third Eye Blind.

Hey did you hear YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook are merging?  They're calling it YouTwitFace.  ROFL

And with that, I'll leave.  Have a great day, everyone.  And drop a comment on your way out.  

Thursday This n That

I just noticed something... I keep seeing people use the word 'partner' instead of 'husband' or 'wife' or 'spouse'.  In terms of language it's kind of right, but not exactly right.  All husbands and wives are spouses, all spouses are partners (or they should be), but not all partners are spouses.  (And spouses are broken into husbands and wives, so not all spouses are strictly one or the other.)  Specificity, folks.  Hell, you could even slide another level in there - significant other.  Put it between partner and spouse.  As in, all spouses are significant others, but not all significant others are spouses.  When partner can also include business relationships - company ownerships, law offices, etc. - as well as law enforcement, using partner when you mean significant other/spouse is lazy language.  Or it's a further degradation of our way of life.  Either way, knock it off.

Sonny the buck is almost totally unafraid of Hubs now.  True, Hubs can't pet him yet, but it's to a point where the buck is getting within mere feet of my husband.  I may end up watching Hubs' back while he puts out food during the rut.  I'll go out there with my big walking stick and that alone should keep the deer back.  They're still terrified of me.  My mere presence in the window makes them walk away.  Scary scary lady here.

Speaking of my walking stick, we were out at the lake a while back and I found this stick that had washed up on the shore.  It's about 5 ft long and just the right diameter, tapering down to a solid point.  Both ends show distinct beaver gnaw marks.  It's awesome, so I brought it home.  The beavers did the work of removing all the bark for me.  Hubs stained it for me last week.  I can't wait to use it.

I have another one my oldest brother made for himself out of an ash tree he cut from the land where we grew up, and I just assumed custody of it when he left home.  My oldest brother is 6'8, so you can imagine how big this thing is.  I can't actually wield it as a walking stick.  Staff?  Anyway, it's a piece of home, so I've carted it through every move since 2001.  It's standing in the corner of my living room behind the TV.

Today's my mom's 81st birthday.  I sent her a rock.  Yep, a rock.  And a loaf of homemade zucchini bread made with my zucchinis.  And some homemade granola bars.  The rock is a long story.  Suffice it to say, she liked it and that's all that matters.

Okay, I should probably get some stuff done before I have to head off to the Packing Show.  Have a great day, ya'll.

Thursday This n That

I'm in some kind of mood this morning because I keep getting the urge to argue with morons on FB.  And it's about stupid stuff.  For instance, there was this math problem, and there was this guy arguing that the answer had to be 6 because when you broke the math problem down it was basically 2(2+1), but the first part of the problem had 6 divided by 2.  In what alternate universe do you ever get two goes into six two times???  I want to think he did that on purpose to see if anyone caught his mistake.  (No one arguing with him did, btw.)  It had to be that or else he's a total putz.  Maybe he's a total putz either way.  

At first I thought the division sign in the problem was a plus sign and I couldn't figure out how anyone was coming up with nine - including the calculator the poster posted an image of.  Glasses, you dork, wear your glasses.  LOL

Getting older blows.

Hubs has been leaving a special little pile of seeds by the iris bed just for Chester Chipmunk.  I made Chester a theme song.  "Chester... Chester Chipmunk.  He's the chippiest chipmunk of them all."  It works better if you can hear me sing it.

There's Chester on our front porch.  Isn't he darling?  I want to snuggle him up.  Of course, if I got my hands on him, he'd bite the hell out of me.  Wild things don't understand snuggling.

We have all these woodland creatures.  Why the hell aren't they cleaning my house?  Damn you, Disney, for giving me unrealistic expectations of woodland creatures.

I wandered the yard yesterday taking pictures.  Here's one from my front door, looking across the porch at the yard.  

The yard is great until you have to mow it.  And that's just a fraction of the whole yard.  With trees you have to mow around scattered throughout.  

Yes, we have a ceiling fan on the front porch.  Don't look at me.  I didn't put it there.  It was here when we bought the house.  Now, it's mainly a place for birds to perch while they're waiting for their chance on the suet cage.

We do so love the little birdies that we give them this to perch upon.  ;o)

Anyway, I'm running late today, so I'd better get my buns in gear.  Got anything to add from your this n that lists today?

Thursday This n That

Wow, it's Thursday.  I thought it was Wednesday.  Derp.  This does not bode well for the rest of the day...

I got up around 4am today so I would be alert enough to do a bunch of marketing posts early enough for them to be effective.  I just noticed a typo in all the posts to 20 or so groups.  Go to group, find my post amongst the others, delete the freakin' N, save... lather, rinse, repeat.  Guess I still wasn't alert enough, eh?  :takes off the red, rubber nose and floppy clown shoes:

I stepped out to check on my plants and scared the crap out of a deer.  They really shouldn't be hanging out in the south yard.  I hope she didn't eat my lilies while she was over there.  

There is not enough coffee on the planet today.  Personally, I think it's cruel that I can't grow my own coffee.  If the world ever takes a shit, I'm going to be one unhappy camper with no coffee and no cigarettes.  Yeah, that's what I worry about when I think about the collapse of society - coffee and cigarettes.  Shows you where my priorities lay.

Lay... lie... whatever.

The tree we thought was a Bradford pear has fruit this year... plum shaped fruit... I guess I was wrong about the species of that tree.  Or maybe I'm wrong about being wrong.  No clue.  Derp.  I also learned the trees I've been calling Royal Paulownia trees are not those.  Looking at those now, I can't imagine why I ever thought mine were that species.  Derp.  I haven't gone looking for what the real species is.  

I'm feeling especially derpy today.  Need more coffee.  Maybe a nap.

Sunday Update - Week 22

 Hello again, Everyone.

I actually managed to do some writing this week.  Well, Friday and Saturday.  It's only about 2K words, but it's better than nothing.  Friday, it was another case of 'I can't sleep', so after rolling around in bed for an hour, I got up and wrote.  Then yesterday, I made myself write again.  I'm not sure it's very good and I'm pretty sure I need to go back and change some things, but it's writing.

In marketing... I ended up moving 13 copies of Unequal through the course of its 5-day freebie.  Blink is free now and I moved 2 copies last night.  It'll be free through the 2nd and then on the 2nd Rumor Has It will start its 99-dent sale.  

I only read one book that I could attribute to my Reading Wrap-up for last week.  I read another book, but it was a beta read and the book hasn't been published yet.  Once it's published, I'll add it to the list and talk it up a lot.  It was seriously awesome.

On the baking front, I did granola bars early in the week, then I did a black forest cake.  Then I did pizza.  THEN I made oatmeal apple raisin cookies.  Yeah, it was one of those weeks where baking was necessary.  

As for activity, I have stuff down for 5 out of 7 days.  Most of that was either weeding or working in the garden (moving 42 pots worth of plants inside and outside and around the deck totally counts).  I walked one day - the first walk in over 2 weeks - bringing my total walk mileage to 33.2 miles for the year.  At this point, I'm thinking my goal of 100 miles isn't going to happen, but hey, who knows what the rest of the year will bring.

Gah, so much rain this week.  And it's not done yet.  

Yesterday, I had a little bird ditch into the window.  I didn't see anything looking out the window, but I always open the door and check to see if its under the chairs.  It was sitting on the door mat, totally not focused on anything.  I squeezed out the door, so it wouldn't maybe fly inside.  I needn't have worried.  He was totally stunned.  I picked him up and looked him over.  He was the prettiest little bird and I'd never seen anything like him before.  After he became alert, I put him in the hydrangea to finish his recuperation.  While I had him, I asked Hubs to bring me my cell phone and I snapped some pics of him.  Then after I came back inside, I downloaded the pictures and went to work on identification.  He was a male Kentucky warbler.  

Striking little dude, eh?  The pictures make him look bigger than he was.  And I have big hands.

In other nature news, the deer are still pregnant.  Shouldn't be long now and we'll start seeing does with sunken bellies.  Then in about a month to six weeks, babies.  Yay.  I was watching a buck in the front yard.  He was being a good boy and just eating grass, but then he walked over to my redbud tree and started munching leaves.  I knocked on the window and told him to stop eating my tree.  He looked up at me like 'what?' then he took a step forward, grabbed a whole mouthful while staring me in the eye, turned tail and trotted away with the leaves hanging out of his mouth.  Teenage boys.  What are ya gonna do?

We also had a raccoon, a bunny, and a turtle in the yard this week.  And I found a teeny tiny snake while I was weeding.

My big hydrangea is exploding with flowers this year.  I think it actually likes the fact that I had to cut the crepe myrtle down to the ground.  The myrtle is trying to make a comeback, growing up from the dead base.  My only remaining cultivated rose is also crazy with blooms after being cut back hard.  All in all, the hard freeze we had a while back didn't do as much damage as I'd feared.  Except the black cherry trees never bloomed, so no cherries this year.  And the black walnut trees had all their flowers freeze, so probably no nuts this year either.  (Which isn't necessarily a bad thing except the squirrels will be hungry little pains-in-the-butt come fall.)  Time will tell.

Okay, I think that's just about enough out of me.  I probably should go do something constructive this morning.  Have a great day, everyone.

How was your week?

Thursday This n That

The other day, the phone company guy gave me his direct number and told me to call him if the static problem returned.  I have tried the number on several occasions and always get a 'voice mail box has not been set up' kind of message.  Thanks for nothin', phone dude.

The other night, we heard a strange noise outside.  It sounded like an owl, but not like any owl we've heard before.  I thought maybe it was a barn owl, so I checked out that call.  Nope.  So I went through every owl that lives in MO/AR but that I didn't think I'd heard before.  Nope.  Then I checked out the great horned owl to see if it made any non-typical noises that it could've been.  Not that either.  My last hope was the barred owl, but I didn't think it could be that because we hear their standard call quite often here.  Yep.  It was a non-typical barred owl noise.  

The next night, we heard a different strange noise outside.  Kind of between a growl and a yowl.  Checked out foxes.  Nope.  Not a raccoony type noise either.  Tried bobcat.  Yep.  It was a sound they usually make in series when they're looking for another bobcat, but this was only once.  Silly kitty.

Ah, livin' in the woods.

Hubs just stopped by my desk to fill up my coffee and he was chuckling.  I asked him why and he chuckled some more before he finally said "No, I don't want to get that stuck in your head."  I then said "Well, if it's giving you a chuckle, maybe it'll give me one, too."  He chuckled some more and replied, "No.  I don't want to risk it."  He's so funny.

Tuesday, I was at the bank chatting with my BFF when she suddenly whips out her phone and tells me she's got to show me something, saying it always made her smile.  It was an old video of Allan Sherman singing 'Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah.'  Too fun and it definitely made me smile.  I'm not sure when or where I first heard the song, but it's been my head for decades. Hubs and I are both fond of it and often quote the line I'm sure we'll have some fun if it stops rainin'.

That line is kind of apropos for this week.  Holy sploosh.  It's rained every day this week.  Wet wet wet.  Good thing Hubs and I worked on repairing the drainage before all this started.  All the rain is nicely flowing around the house instead of straight at it and puddling up in front.

And on that wet note, I'll let you go.  Have a great day, everyone.  :hugs:

Thursday This n That

I don't understand the new style of tucking your shirt into the front of your pants and leaving it untucked in the back.  I've seen it on several shows now.  Erin does it on Hometown.  I think Jenny does it on Fixer to Fabulous.  Nancy Kerrigan (the figure skater) was wearing her shirt that way on Antiques Roadshow - Celebrity Edition.  Is it to cover your ass?  It seems like the mullet of fashion - business in the front, party in the back.  :shrug:  Not keen on it.  I leave the whole shirt untucked these days.  Cover the belly and the butt.  

It occurs to me so many people are trying so hard to avoid death that they're no longer living.

Yesterday, I went out on the deck for a smoke and it looked like something had stolen one of my tomato plants.  I was thinking birds or a squirrel.  Then when I looked closer, I realized that tiny baby plant was laying flat in the dirt.  When I watered yesterday, I'd forgotten the tomatoes.  Derp.  I might have lost like four of them.  We'll see.  Someone local I follow on FB posted pictures of their tomatoes this morning.  They already have fruit!?  WTH?  My plants are only like 2-3 inches tall.  

The latest in stupidity from our Impostor in Chief is that he's trying to ban menthol cigarettes.  Because menthols are racist and target black folk, or some stupid shit.  Legalize drugs, ban menthols.  I smoke menthols.  What a dipshit.  (And yes, I know it's not actually him because he can't think his way out of a paper bag.  He's merely the figurehead.  Universal dipshit and his dipshit handlers.)

Hey, did you hear Snow White is awful because the kiss of the prince that saves her wasn't consensual?  Can't make this stuff up, people.  I guess mouth-to-mouth resuscitation should be out shortly, too.  Dipshits.

In happier news, we had a bunny in our yard yesterday!  And a raccoon!  Spring is awesome.  Here's pic of the bunny after it hopped into the woods.  Can you find it?  

In additional happy news, our black walnut trees are all starting to recover from the hard freeze that killed most of their new leaves.  Even the baby trees I was especially concerned about have new leaves.  Nature will find a way.  Yay.

My irises are blooming.  Yay!  And my lilies have buds.  Yay!  

And on that note, I'll let you get back to your lives.  Have a great day, folks.  And try to find some happy amidst the chaos.  :hugs:

Thursday This n That

Someone spoofed my name (using b.e,_sanderson) and photo last night and sent out messages to some people on my FB friends list.  I got a message from one of them alerting me to it.  I posted something to FB warning people and got a comment from my brother that he'd already reported them.  I tried looking for the numbnuts so I could report them, too, but they were already gone.  Always check the name.  I am B.e. Sanderson (personal) and B.E. Sanderson (author) on Facebook. If there is any difference, it isn't me.  If you're not sure, comment here or email me.  

They also got me on Twitter.  But I haven't actually been on Twitter in more than a year.  If you get contacted by someone looking like me on Twitter, it ain't me.  The only reason I still have a Twitter account is I don't want to chance someone else using B.E. Sanderson on there.  It's mine.

All this spoofing crap... Gah.  People with nothing better to do, I guess.  Grow up and get a life.  Sheesh.

This morning, I listened to a radio broadcast snippet wherein a woman was complaining about deer crossings.  Her feeling was they should move them to lower traffic areas so the deer won't get hit as often.  And the government should move the deer to less populated areas.  Umm... yah.  As someone stated in comments, her vote counts just as much as yours or mine.  

This past week, I have seen three hit deer.  None of them near deer crossing signs.  Those rebel deer.  Shame on them.  I also saw a hit beaver.  Why are there no crossings for those poor little dudes?  ROFL

It's Spring... which means the roads are looking like the aftermath of a war.  Critters are moving around and getting schmucked.  It seems worse this year than usual, at least here.  Keep an eye out for wildlife and slow down, people.  

Last night, there were tornadoes in the area.  This morning, we might see snow.  Stupid weather.

Speaking of tornadoes, the Wireless Alert System sends out alerts to cell phones.  Weather alerts and Amber alerts.  Unfortunately, they keep sending me Amber alerts for St. Louis and Kansas City and St. Joseph.  All of which are hours from here.  Thus, when my cell phone went off during dinner last night, I ignored it.  Once I finished eating, I was over here at the computer, scrolling through my Facebook feed and saw we had been under a tornado warning.  Yep, sure enough, that was what my phone was trying to tell me, but I ignored it because I thought it was another damn Amber alert that didn't apply to me.  Someone really needs to read Boy Who Cried Wolf to the emergency management people.  

Unfortunately, I don't get alerts for the county south of me, which is actually closer to me than most of the alerts for my own county.  Tornado in the middle or the northwest part of the county don't apply because storms there rarely head this way.  :shrug:  I'll keep taking care of myself, thank you very much.  

Okay, I'm running late today, so I suppose I should let you get back to your lives and I'll get back to mine.  Have a great day!

Thursday This n That

In case you're not on FB or MeWe, here's a picture of Penelope O'Possum...

...when she stopped by the yard a couple afternoons ago.  Mom's reaction "she's so clean".  All in all, I don't think opossums are dirty.  Sometimes they just look that way because they don't have access to laundry detergent to make their whites bright.

I'm up to 13% on my edits as of last night.  Slow progress is still progress.

And I vacuumed yesterday.  And I walked.  Pulling myself out of the mire by my bootstraps.  (Okay, so maybe Hubs had to poke me in the metaphorical ass to get me to take a walk... but I did it.)

I'm in the middle of an Alistair MacLean novel right now.  I was reading along, wondering what in the hell he was thinking about when he wrote the MC as a criminal who shoots a cop and runs from the law.  Umm, long about the middle, you learn it's all a set up so the MC can infiltrate the bad guys.  Yay.  I was worried maybe ol' Alistair had gone off the rails, but nope.  

Yesterday, I forgot to defrost anything for dinner, so long about 5, I was trying to figure out what the hell to do.  I made a meatloaf the other day, but we'd both had leftover meatloaf for lunch.  Then it hit me - grilled cheese sandwiches.  Then another thing hit me - put slices of leftover meatloaf in the grilled cheese sandwiches.  Thank goodness for my Foreman Grill.  I just assembled the suckers, slid them onto the grill and closed the lid.  Two-three minutes later, they were done.  And they were awesome.  Mine had Swiss and American cheeses, Hubs' was Cheddar and American.  Yummers.  Not sure why I never thought of doing that before.  

BTW, there's nothing quite so yummy as leftover meatloaf.  Am I right or am I right?

And that's enough of that.  What's up in your this-n-that this week?