It's That Time

Time to put that last little sunflower seedling into its permanent home.  

I put this one into my little flower bed in front of my porch, and protected it with a cloche. 

It will quickly outgrow it, just like the others have.  I'm thinking next year I might plant a whole row in this bed.  It'll give me a little more privacy in the front of my house.  I kind of wish I'd thought of that before I planted all of these...

which are doing great, by the way.  

The Incarnation of Evil was there to supervise the whole operation, but I don't think she approves. 

A bit of good news.  This little cosmos that I'd thought was done-for seems to be making a comeback.  

I know it's a blurry picture, but it seems to be growing a bit.  Even if it doesn't make it, I've got plenty more in the mini-greenhouse.  

Speaking of making it, I've been trying to kill this rose for about 5 years now, but it keeps coming back. 

It's even got buds on it!  Well, as long is it is out of the fence -- which I hope to get replaced sometime this summer or fall.  If I can ever get my act together enough to make a couple of phone calls.  And you know how I feel about those. 

Oh, here's something.  I finally got a good photo of my Bachelor's Buttons.  Or a halfway decent one, at least. 

And of course, the one I didn't plant is the one that looks the best.  Go figure. 

 While I was doing all of this gardening, I got Marty Mac out and trimmed all of his dead leaves and traps. 

He has fully recovered from being transplanted and is looking so much better.  If I can keep the critters from pulling him up, he ought to thrive from here on out. 

I reckon that's it for today.  Oh, I'm still plugging away at the piano, but it's slow going.  I'm hoping I can get a song recorded for you in a couple of weeks.  

OK, now that's all I have for you. 

Laters. 

Winter? Is that you?

Winter came back to Mississippi for one last hurrah before giving way to the suffocating heat and humidity of summer.  Some parts of the state were even under a frost advisory Sunday night.  I was a little nervous about my outside plants, but it only got down to 41° here, so they were fine.  

Still, that was enough to make it mighty chilly at my work station. 

I'd almost put my winter hats and scarves away for the year, but I was thankful I left them out a little longer.  I needed them this week.  It warmed up pretty quickly after the sun came up, but for a minute there, those winter clothes felt really good.  

I hope I haven't messed up with these little seedlings, but I've already started putting them outside in the afternoons.

 I don't know if it's something with the specific variety of cosmos, but they are thin and leggy as if they weren't getting enough light.  So, out into the sunshine they go.  Also, I still haven't figured out why some of the plant cells dry out so much faster than others.  I'm thinking I might get some of those grow sponges and try them -- along with different varieties of seeds to see if they do any better under these grow lights.  I don't know.  This little system got really good reviews on Amazon, but I'm not having much luck with it.  

The sunflowers did well, so maybe it's just these seeds that are struggling.  

Oh and I may have done something very foolish last night...And what was that foolish thing I may have done?  I ordered another one of those raised planters.  I've enjoyed the one I have so much, I've wanted another one ever since I got the first one.  Well, this week, I finally got my Amazon rewards card paid off, so I splurged a little.   I think I'm going to put this one beside the car port.  It'll get better sunlight there.  

In other news, my place of employment has struck again.  See, I've worked out there for 29 years, and for at least 28 of those years, it's been company policy that if you work a 10 hour shift, you get an extra ten minutes at lunch. Back in the day,  we got both a 30 minute lunch and a ten minute break, but they took the extra break away several years ago.  

OK, let me step outside my story for a moment to give you a little background.    Back during the pandemic, the Big Man Up Front that we had back then split us up into two different lunch breaks.  One was from 10:40 - 11:00 and the other was from 11:05 - 11:25.  Sometime last summer, the powers that be decided that since the pandemic was over, so was the need for separate breaks and everyone was going to go to lunch from 11:00 -11:20, the way it was before.  

That's what we'd been doing ever since then.  But for some reason, yesterday Group Leader Shark seemed to forget all about that, and told us that lunch was from 11:05 - 11:25 and made us stand there working like a bunch of doofuses while everyone else in the plant was going to lunch.  

Later that day, one of the brazers stopped Cuz and asked him.  He said that GLS was wrong and that we were supposed to be going to lunch at 11:00.  I said, "Can you please make sure she knows that?"  

So that was yesterday's drama.  

Well, today when I got back from lunch, she came over and told me "We don't get 30 minutes any more."  Nobody seems to know who decided that, or why, but suddenly after 28 years...someone has a problem with it.  I said, "Then I'm not coming in at 4:00 any more!"   To which she replied, "You have to!" 

Which brings me to my next question:  Why do I have to come in at 4:00 when everyone else over there she told, "Come in when you feel like it.  4:15, 5:00...whenever you want to..."  I don't know, but I'm going to talk to ...a supervisor about it in the morning.  I don't even know who our supervisor is now.  

I swan I hate that place so much.  I'm already counting down the days until I retire, and it will probably be a lot sooner than anyone thinks it will.  

Funny, they can get all bent out of shape over 10 minutes, but they can't seem to keep my Stalker away from over there.  They seem to think that's funny...

You know what I think is funny?  That they can't figure out why nobody wants to work there!  Oh, but they're playing that creepy weird music every morning!  That's supposed to solve everything, isn't it?  

And finally, just so this post isn't a total waste of your time, here's hat progress. 

I've started the crown decreases, and should be finished soon.  But for now, I'd better get to bed, since I'm the one that HAS to come in at 4:00.  

Earth Day 2024

1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.

5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

6 And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.

7 And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.

8 And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.

9 And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.

10 And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.

11 And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.

12 And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

13 And the evening and the morning were the third day.

14 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:

15 And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.

16 And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.

17 And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,

18 And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.

19 And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.

20 And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.

21 And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

22 And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.

23 And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.

24 And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.

25 And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.

30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.

31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

San Jacinto Day

After the fall of the Alamo, on March 6, 1836, the Texas Army, led by General Sam Houston, spent 6 weeks running from the relentless pursuit of General Antonio Lopez de Santa Ana.  On April 21, on the banks of the San Jacinto River, the decisive battle of the Texas Revolution was fought.

It lasted just 18 minutes, and culminated with the capture -- and surrender -- of Santa Ana.  Against all odds, the Texas Revolution was won, and Texas became an independent republic, until they joined the United States by treaty in 1845.

And this is the song those soldiers played as they marched into battle:

Tell it to your children, and let your children tell it to their children, and their children to the next generation.  -- Joel 1 : 3

It's Alive!

Life!  Life!  I have given my creation liiiiiife!  

OK, they weren't exactly my creation, and I had very little to do with them being alive, but my seeds are germinating!  It would seem planting them at the proper depth is actually quite important.  I still haven't figured out why some of the cells are drying out so much faster than others, though. But I hope to get a few viable plants out of these anyway.  

By the way, the eggshells seem to be doing the trick with the ones already in the flower bed. They're not looking any worse, and I'm hopeful they'll recover in time.  

The only other new thing garden wise is I found some cilantro for the herb garden.  

Cody and Brennan requested some of that, along with Italian Parsley.  They actually had some at Walmart, but it didn't look too good, so I'm going to wait until next week to see if they get some more in.  I'd thought about running up to Batesville to see what they have up there, but when I saw the forecast, I reconsidered.  

Yep, it's rained on and off all day long, and is supposed to rain all the night through.  It was the perfect day to sit inside and knit.  I got a good deal done on my next hat for the Seaman's Church Institute.  

I decided I'd also cast on a scarf, too.  It's their pattern, available on their website.  

 I probably won't do too many scarves, as the hats knit up so much faster, but I've been wanting to do at least one for a while now.   It's a very simple pattern, good for mindless knitting.  

And finally, I've always been a morning person, but not this much morning.  You know you get up early when waking up at 4:00 AM feels like sleeping in.  

My next job will definitely have normal human being hours.  

Patriot's Day

 

Stand your ground

Don't fire unless fired upon

But if they mean to have a war

Let it begin here. 

Concord Hymn 

 RALPH WALDO EMERSON

By the rude bridge that arched the flood,

   Their flag to April’s breeze unfurled,

Here once the embattled farmers stood

   And fired the shot heard round the world.

The foe long since in silence slept;

   Alike the conqueror silent sleeps;

And Time the ruined bridge has swept

   Down the dark stream which seaward creeps.

On this green bank, by this soft stream,

   We set today a votive stone;

That memory may their deed redeem,

   When, like our sires, our sons are gone.

Spirit, that made those heroes dare

   To die, and leave their children free,

Bid Time and Nature gently spare

   The shaft we raise to them and thee.

Salad

Well, I came home to find cosmos #3 has become something's salad.  I don't know what's eating them, but I sure wish it would stop.  

I went ahead and took the cloches off, then sprayed them down again with my dishwashing liquid bug spray, and added one more weapon to my arsenal -- crushed egg shells.  

I've read that they can be a deterrent to slugs because they don't like the sharp edges and will not crawl over them.  

If this doesn't work, I don't know what else I'll do.  The slugs are why I stopped trying to grow marigolds, after all.  They kept eating them.   Shame, because I love marigolds.  

In work news, they've put up a sign up list for people to request a transfer to second shift.  I was seriously tempted for a moment to sign up, if for no other reason than to get away from my stalker.  But with my luck, he'd suddenly decide he needed to work late every day.  Sigh...

There are advantages to working second shift, though.  One is that I could get out and work in my yard in the cool of the morning, instead of the heat of midday.  Another is that I won't have to get up at 2:30 AM.  

And of course, there are fewer bosses on second shift, and fewer rules.  I won't have to use my purge gas.  I can pick and choose the easy orders to braze and not even have to worry that it's wayyyyy down in the schedule.  And I can play on my phone all day, wear earbuds, not wear my PPE correctly, and never have to clean up after myself.  

The downside is feeling like I have to watch the clock all day...waiting until time to get ready for work.  

Nah, I think I'll stay on day shift.

Dinosaurs!!

It appears it was a good thing I mowed yesterday, because we got a pretty good storm this morning -- with thunder and everything.  I'm not sure how much it rained, but it was enough to leave puddles in the parking lot at work.  So, yay me!

It also appears something is eating my Cosmos.  I went out to check them as soon as I got home, and another one has been completely stripped of its leaves.  After starting a load of laundry -- see, my list never ends, either -- I mixed up some diluted dishwashing liquid and sprayed the remaining two down pretty well, then I got my slug and snail killer and spread some of that around them, too.  Hopefully, that will be enough to keep them alive.  

The good news is, I'm seeing sprouts in my little greenhouse!  

I've been meaning to post these photos for a week now, and I'm finally getting around to it.  I'd mentioned that there is something new at the Memphis Zoo, and it is dinosaurs!  Real live dinosaurs!

They had them running loose in this one area, and you could go in and walk amongst them.  You did have to dodge getting eaten by some of the more...aggressive ones...

OK, not really.  Obviously, they were animatronic, but they were still pretty cool.   Most of them moved and made noise, but some were just models. 

They were life sized as well, 

despite the liberties Jurassic Park took with some of them...

Yeah, real velociraptors weren't as big as they showed them in the movie, being only about the size of a turkey. 

The triceratops was cool, 

as was this...whatever it is.  I think it's a Spinosaurus,  but I didn't take a picture of the sign, so I'm not completely sure.  

The Brachiosaur was truly awe inspiring. 

 I didn't intend to include a person in this photo, but I'm kind of glad she was there, so you can get some perspective on how big this thing really is. 

The person was a little taller than me -- maybe about 5'7".  

The whole thing was so cool, I said "I don't want to leave!  Where was this kind of thing when I was a kid."  But then, when I was a kid, we thought Tyrannosaurus Rex walked upright with a dragging tail...

Like this one from Dinosaur Valley State Park in Glen Rose, Tx.

Not my photo, by the way.  I swiped it off the internet.  At one time, I could have shown you an original photo, but Hurricane Ike ruined the ones my dad took, and dummy me taped over the video I made when I took Cody there when he was 8.  

I want to go back some day, and maybe some day I can. 

Anyway, I took a lot more photos up in Memphis, and if you want to see them, they're in my Facebook album.  Which you may or may not have seen, thanks to FB's stupid algorithm.  It's even got some videos in there, too. 

Done!

I am done with this list -- for now. 

 Yep, me with my old crazy self got out after work and mowed the front and side yards.  Only now I'm too tired to even lift my arms, but the list is done!

Yea, I know, I know.  It still says move daffodils, but I've decided it'll be better for them if I wait until they begin dying back naturally, so they get a reprieve for now.   I reckon, though, I'd better make a new list -- which unfortunately includes making phone calls. Ick. 

Also unfortunately, it looks like one of my little cosmos has died.  I'm not sure if I damaged the roots too much when I moved it or what, but it's a goner.  Hopefully, I'll have enough germinate from the next batch to fill the bed up. 

I know this is short, but after working a 10 hour shift, then coming home and mowing, I'm plumb wiped out.  I'm going to sit and do absolutely nothing for a minute. 

Laters.

And With That

I finished another hat yesterday.  

I'm not completely sure I like this colorway, but it is colorful.   I have enough yarn left for maybe three more hats, and I'm sure some sailor somewhere will like them.  In the meantime, I've cast on another one with the fluorescent stripes yarn.  That seems to be a favorite -- well, among my coworkers, that is.  

So anyway, I'd meant to post yesterday, but didn't really feel like it.  Sometimes I'm amazed that anyone even wants to read my drivel, since it's mostly a personal blog.  But the thing is, it can't become a chore.  It's been that in the past, and I've had to take a break.  I want it to be something I enjoy writing, and that I'll enjoy reading sometime in the future.  If you enjoy it, too, that's all the better. 

All that to say, what I would have posted yesterday is this.  I got up early and was able to take a photo of my sunflowers without the glare of full sun.  

I'm really enjoying them, even though I'd never like growing sunflowers.  This afternoon, I went to Walmart and picked up some stakes and got them secured.  

We're not expecting any severe weather until the weekend, but I wanted to make sure I got the sunflowers staked before it gets here.  I feel a lot better knowing that they have that extra support now.  Oh, and I got the ones in the back yard done, too.  I just didn't take a photo.

While I was out there, I moved the two knitting needles that I had been using previously to the Bachelor's Buttons to give them a little support. 

I'm not really too worried about them.  The main reason I'm even staking them is to make sure when they seed that the seeds fall into the flower bed and not the yard.  Like this one did...

It's a beautiful plant.  It's just not where I want it. 

Speaking of beautiful, look what I found!  

Yes, that is a bud on one of my bluebonnets!  Woo hoo!  I might get one yet!  Plus, I have six packets of seeds in the freezer to plant in the Fall. I'm also considering starting some and putting the into a pot.  We'll see...

Speaking of starting seeds, I was going to start them all in the orange pots, but I changed my mind.  Turns out, I could only fit four into the little greenhouse, so I put those into one of my old greenhouse trays and put them onto the front porch. 

Even though we're likely past the threat of frost, I'm still bringing them inside at night, for fear of critters getting into them.  This is a variety of Cosmos, but I can't remember what it's called.  Cutie, I think.  The others I'd bought are Dwarf Sensation, which is what I put into my mini greenhouse -- after I dragged that old sewing machine out into the dining area and set up on it. 

That thing was heavy!  I'm seriously considering giving it away once I'm done starting seeds.  On the other hand, it's nice and level, and the perfect size for that spot right there.  

I got the other two packets of seeds planted, making sure this time plant them to the correct depth, and not send them down to Australia like I did before.  Also, I didn't plant any in the corner cells, because they don't get as much light.  

And now we wait.  

 

And with that, I was able to scratch one more thing off of my to-do list. 

Moving the daffodils will be a multi-day process, once I even decide what to do with them.  And of course mowing...My yard is still a bit soggy, so I'm trying to wait until Thursday to mow, and even then, I think I'll only do the front and side yards.  I'll leave the back for a bit.  

My purple deadnettle is starting to die back, but there is still plenty of clover and those yellow flowers out there, so I'm going to wait a while to cut it all down.  Once I get my privacy fence up, I may never mow the back again.  

Busy Saturday

Before I get into today's business, I need to tell you I've finished reading that Fire Mage book.  

It was one of those that took me three tries and a lot of determination to slough through that whole thing.  It was awful.  

It was the typical post apocalyptic story -- only this one was fantasy instead of sci-fi-- where the main character is a spoiled, headstrong, whiny, selfish, narcissistic teenage girl, only this one was incredibly stupid as well.  She's constantly moaning about how bad luck follows her, but she's too stupid to realize she makes her own bad luck by making stupid decisions. 

Not only that, the book is self published, so it's absolutely loaded with spelling and grammar errors enough to make the book downright painful to read.  The story had such promise, but the plot is thin, the writing childish, and the characters shallow and undeveloped.  I won't be reading any more books in this series.  It's time to get back to Shakespeare. 

Now, on to today's post.  I had quite a lot on the agenda, so I made myself a list first thing this morning. 

 The second thing I did was decide not to mow today, mainly because the yard is still a bit soggy from all the recent rains, but also because I didn't want to, so I got out and got the rest of the firewood moved into the back.  

I've definitely got enough wood to last for a year or two!  And look, it's all clean on this side of my shed, and much easier to refill the bird feeder, which I promptly did. 

I really want to get that thing torn down and rebuilt in a smaller size, but I can't help but think that a shed of that size will really increase the resale value of the house.  Only if I get the flooding issues fixed, the leaks in the roof fixed, and the siding replaced.  At that rate, might as well just tear it down and start over.   The real issue with that is finding a contractor I can trust.  I've been ripped off by so many, and blown off by so many others that I just don't trust anyone any more. 

The next thing I got taken care of is getting that little front flower bed cleaned out.  It was choked with weeds, but I got the ol' garden claw out and took care of those post haste.  I also lifted the edging a bit so it sits higher.  It had sunk so low you could barely see it, but now it's clearly visible. 

Then into their new home the four little Cosmos went.  

I went ahead and put the one lonely little bluebonnet that germinated into that bed as well, and covered it with a cloche so I won't forget that it's there and pull it up. 

I think next Fall I might try to plant some bluebonnets in this little bed, but I haven't decided yet.  None of the ones I planted in the back corner have done anything.  Except die, that is.  

Well, I lied to you yesterday.  I'd said I was done with the sunflowers, but look what surprised me in my seed starting tray this morning. 

Yep, another sunflower!  I moved it into this other pot right away, and now it's hanging out inside Marty Mac's cage for the time being. 

I have to put Marty Mac into a cage, because something keeps digging him up.  After the second time he was uprooted last summer, I found some old chicken wire and made this little cage for him, but in just a few days, something had dragged the entire cage across the porch and dumped Marty Mac over.  He wasn't uprooted, but that afternoon, I put the chunks of scrap concrete in there.   He's been just fine ever since.

But back to the little sunflower,  I might have messed up moving it so quickly, but I want to use the tray to start my next batch of seeds, so it had to come out.  Meanwhile, the other sunflowers are thriving.  

Even the one I had to prop up with the knitting needle has grown strong again, and I can probably take the needle out. 

I think I'm still going to get some stakes for them, even though most websites say they can stand on their own.  What with our spring storms and all, it won't hurt to give them a little extra support. 

By the time I'd done all that, I was tired and hot and sweaty, so I came in side and took a quick shower, then sat in front of the TV for the rest of the day.  I still want to start another set of seeds, but I'm going to use the other starting pots I'd bought instead of the tray. 

I'm still going to use the bottom tray and the heat mat, along with the grow lights, but not the part with the little seed cells.  I might get that taken care of later today, or tomorrow, but for now, I think I'll find a movie to watch and finish the hat I've got on the needles. 

Laters.