cairistiona | Entries tagged with ramblings

There are two deer in this pic:

Kudos if you spotted them! If not:

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We ended up getting about 7-8 inches of snow, with drifts deeper than that. It was snowing about two inches an hour during the height of the storm. Hubby came home after a half-day at work, before the roads got really bad, and he was out every thirty minutes with the leaf blower, keeping Boom's pee path clear.

It's a very "blowable" snow, so he's outside right now using the big snowblower to clear the driveway (or rather, making adjustments to get the snowblower to run, as is always the case, seems like). In a rare event, there was no ice or sleet first, so if the snow is off, there won't be a slick layer underneath, just bare gravel.

I had to go out several times with Boom or to blow his path clear before hubby came home, and my rosacea, despite being covered by a fuzzy, soft balaclava, is not happy. Oh well. It'll improve with warmer weather. By Sunday it will be in the 40Fs and by Monday, near 60F. That's the only nice thing about late winter here: the cold snaps are fierce but usually don't last weeks.

A couple more photos:

Polar Bear in her natural element as hubby arrived home before it really started snowing in earnest:

I will not be dining al fresco this morning:

Everyone stay warm today!

Happy Wednesday, all.

It seems very quiet in my corner of DW land, which fits how quiet life is around here this weekend. Yesterday we took the cardboard and paper recyclables to the center, picked up lunch to take home, and spent the rest of the day parked in front of the TV, because it was still rather raw and cold outside, which made it feel chilly around the edges inside. We're definitely following Boom's example of aggressive laziness this weekend.

"As well you should, Mommy."

Today is grocery shopping, then more TV watching, and, perhaps if it gets as warm as the forecast promises, some wandering around in the yard to see if there's any signs of spring other than daffodil leaves, which always start poking up in January (and sometimes December). When I stepped outside with Boom this morning, there was a distinct scent of skunk wafting through the air. That's a harbinger of spring that no one really celebrates. :P

My face is looking and, more importantly, feeling a bit more normal now. The infection seems to have cleared, but it's still a little itchy and red in places. I plan to use the steroid cream for a couple more days, then wean off of it and see what happens. I'll get the single stitch removed on Wednesday, which will be nice. It's been adding a bit to the itching. Thankfully no sign of infection there, either.

I guess today is Groundhog Day. Such a weird and silly custom, honestly, but I suppose we're all so sick of winter by this point that we're desperate for any sign of spring, enough to yank a poor hibernating groundhog from its den to make it see if it's sunny or cloudy. Humanity is a puzzle sometimes. Most times.

Happy Sunday, all.

Dink stayed with her friend in Gainesville until Friday, then, because they were lifting evacuation orders, she decided to drive back to see how her apartment fared. Good news there: it was fine. *whew* Of course, there's no power, so that means in addition to her home not having a/c or internet, traffic lights are all down, most businesses are still closed, and it's really, really hard to find gas (even stations that have generators for the pumps have run out gas). She stayed in her hot stuffy apartment with nothing to do once she'd emptied out and cleaned the fridge, but then she saw that Tampa International had re-opened and so, in a blink, she bought a ticket home. She got here at 11 pm last night.

This morning, she got a message from her electric company estimating her power returning on October 17, so she'll probably stay here until she sees it's back on.

She got a message from the school district superintendent listing all the damage to schools, from broken windows to flooding to, of course, power outages. They haven't given an estimate on when schools will reopen (some will be serving as shelters until Sunday and others beyond that). Dink was planning to give her two week's notice this coming Friday, so it could very well be that she doesn't ever go back to that job. I have no idea how that's all going to work, but she has an apartment here that she can move into on November 7 and a tentative job start date of December 16. The move-in date is flexible, of course, but the new job starting very likely isn't, although considering the hurricane, her new employee might be understanding if she needs more time. Needless to say, we haven't booked tickets yet nor rented the moving van. Dink hasn't even booked a return ticket for after the power goes on.

Life is on hold. In the meantime, at least she's here, and we'll make the most of it.

Happy Saturday, all.

ps - the aurora borealis was strong again Thursday night. Despite the new streetlight, I got a nice photo:

Doctor's appointment yesterday went well, no huge issues that I could see on the bloodwork report, other than the usual uptick in markers caused by the bit of weight gain over the last year. I think losing the weight again will help all that, so I'm not expecting any sort of urgent call to come back to the office for further review. He's ordered the "mail-in-your-poop" test for me, as it's been a few years since I last did that. Oh yay.

Onto more interesting things.

Poor Boom was licking his paws and scratching a lot yesterday. He's on an anti-flea/tick topical regimen, but I suspected he stepped in a nest of baby ticks. I put him atop the dryer and gave him a good going over and brushed out hundreds of the things, all dead, thankfully. Even though they died quickly, they still had to bite him to be killed, and that leaves little itchy welts. I was thinking I needed to run to the store for some Benedryl, but the brushing seemed to have helped enough that he stopped all the licking. He's much better today, thank goodness. I'm also thankful it was the tiniest of ticks, as small as a period on your screen. Boom was likely their first meal, so chances are good they weren't carrying any disease. Small favors. I would not be heartbroken if ticks became extinct.

Far better than ticks are great spangled fritillaries. I caught one (with the camera, not with a net!) on the butterfly weed (which is blooming late because deer nipped it twice just before it bloomed; it's only just now getting decent blooms on):

They're also striking with wings closed:

I caught a bumblebee sleeping on a zinnia blossom the other morning:

(You have to look a bit close.)

Dink and I had a discussion about whether insects dream. We came to no conclusions other than we hoped so. (This on the tail of me telling her I dreamt an ocelet and her kittens sneaked in through the cat door to make a nest in my bedroom!)

I still haven't seen any Monarch caterpillars save the one a few months ago. The zinnias still look nice, but the garden overall is in one of the shabby periods that native gardens (and fields in the wild) get before the wave of fall blossoms. In a week or two, I'll have goldenrod, boneset, and asters blooming, to add to the zinnias, lobelia, and blue sage.

It's also time to think about what additional plants to order for the fall native plant sale. I think I'll just get a few more coneflowers and maybe a spicebush. I'd love to find some Joe Pye weed, which I've read is another excellent native pollinator plant that blooms in late summer/fall. My preferred nursery is out of stock, though, but there's usually a few other nurseries at the plant sale that may have some. *fingers crossed*

Latest on the goings-on across the road: they installed some sort of heavy duty post, probably for a gate, using some sort of automated pile driver thing that I think shook the entire hillside. >.< Fortunately it was only for a few minutes, but it was an exceedingly loud few minutes.

Happy Wednesday, all.

I find myself calling my car just plain Polar Bear in my head. I wonder if that will stick? I'll keep you posted.

The new all-weather floor mats and cargo liner arrived, just in time for a stretch of rainy weather we'll be getting this week. Today, though, is icy, so icy that the roads are impassible. I haven't heard a car go by yet this morning. Hubby even stayed home after nosing out with just the front wheels of Polar Bear onto the road and starting to immediately slide. The Ozarks are pretty much closed for business today.

We had an interesting time with the Amazon delivery dude on Saturday. He's one of the regulars, a young fellow I call Mr. Man Bun who's very polite and delivers packages very carefully. He's one of my favorites. He delivered the a package onto the porch as usual but then he got back in his truck and... didn't leave. The big van/truck thing sat in the driveway for five minutes, then ten, then fifteen. I finally sent hubby out to check on him, and hubby did his shy introvert thing of just glancing in the window instead of knocking on it. *eye roll* He came back in and said it looked like Mr. Man Bun was sorting packages for his next deliveries. Reassured at least that he hadn't fallen and hit his head, we went on with doing some stuff in the bedroom, scooting some furniture around and vacuuming, figuring he'd be gone by the time we finished.

He wasn't.

By then he'd been sitting there for a good 35-45 minutes, so I put on my coat and went out and knocked on his window. Turns out he was fine, but a package with some sort of oil had leaked all over everything and he was trying to clean it up with only a few napkins and hand sanitizer! *facepalm* I got him a roll of shop towels (those heavy duty blue paper towels you use in the garage) and cleaner and he had it all cleaned up in ten minutes. If only hubby had actually knocked and asked, he would have been on his way much quicker. Oh well. After 59 years, hubby isn't really going to change. Mr. Man Bun didn't get fired for the delay; we passed him on the road Sunday morning as we headed out to get groceries.

On the way to get our weekly McD's lunch after the grocery errands, my neighbor H called, calmly frantic because their house had filled with the smell of propane gas and they'd been ordered to evacuate until the fire department came to check things out! She said the smell was so strong it was making them feel headache-y and sick. She wanted to make sure I knew they were out and safe in case the house blew up. O.O Thankfully, it didn't. Both the fire department and the propane gas company inspected everything and found a leaking valve on their furnace (so new furnace for them this week; fortunately they have a second furnace like we do, so they'll have heat). They aiired out the house and sealed the leak, and H and her husband, daughter, two cats and three dogs were able to move back in. What a rough day for them!

Today will be laundry and indoor things until it warms up enough to melt the ice outside. Hubby isn't sure he'll make it to work; it all depends on whether for the forecast for the ice to switch back to rain holds true and whether they treat the road. He doesn't seem bothered a bit by the idea of staying home. He's definitely moving away from "dedicated at all costs employee" to "employee on the cusp of early retirement who can survive just fine without a job." LOL

Stay safe and warm, all. Happy Monday.

... and I need to remember not to casually stroll down the sidewalk steps along there, or I'll get a blast of water in my ear. XD

I also moved a little dog statue that was my mother's onto the wall at the end that has yet to be sampled by the hungry deer. So far this morning, no additional damage to the hostas, but I noticed one of the oak leaf hydrangeas is completely defoliated. *sigh* Those bushes are *relatively* deer proof but not when there's not much else tender to eat, I guess. (eta: I went outside to turn off the water to one bed and TWO deer were munching on those bushes. I yelled and they ran off a little ways into the woods, so I encouraged them by throwing a rock at them, which accomplished nothing as they stepped FORWARD to sniff it. "I'M NOT TOSSING FOOD AT YOU, YOU IJITS!!" *sigh* It's turning into a right circus around here...) Hubby has been informed and he's going to see who might have deer-blocking netting to toss over the bushes, like the stuff they put over fruit trees.

I grew a brain cell last night and put a bucket into the tub and a dish pan in the kitchen sink to collect water that would otherwise go down the drain during showers and hand-washing, etc.

Yesterday morning, before it got too hot, I cooked up two batches of chicken thighs to freeze for future lunches, did a load of laundry, and ran the dishwasher. It got up to 103F yesterday afternoon and will probably hit on or near that until next Wednesday, they're now saying, so I'm going to be doing morning cooking for quite a while, looks like. I'm also going to start researching cacti and other desert plants....

Happy Thursday, all.

The line of storms swept through my area without doing much damage--they developed into monsters on the eastern side of the state, sending several large tornadoes through southeast Missouri and southern Illinois. I used to have a lot of relatives in the area around Chester, Illinois area. My dad grew up in nearby Swanwick/Pinckneyville, and his mother lived their until her last days. I spent a week or two every summer with her, and though we never actually went to Chester, she'd talk about her cousins who lived there. I suspect I may still have distant cousins living there. I hope they're okay.

Of course, because it's not the East or West Coast (or Atlanta)s, there's precious little coverage on the damage this morning on the Weather Channel. Disappointing.

We'll have rain and storms all week, and today it's very cool with a sharp wind blowing. Winter really is knocking on the door. I think we'll have loaded baked potatoes for supper tonight. It'll be nice to run the oven for an hour and fill the house with a good potato aroma.

Hope everyone's week is off to a good start. What's on your plate for supper tonight?

Day 3, Sunday, was originally Dink's official "Move In Day" (as it was a for everyone), but the apartment management got Dink's apartment ready early, so we were able to move her in on Saturday night. It took a few false starts figuring out how to get to the apartment from the parking garage, because the garage served two buildings that didn't connect via any other way, so we wandered through the wrong building for a bit, wondering what we were missing when we couldn't find the right apartment). Once we figured out the route to her place, it wasn't too difficult getting everything in. The parking garage had the advantage of having the same levels as the apartment building has floors, so no need to wait for elevators or lug stuff up flights of stairs.

I'll have to ask Dink to send me a photo of her digs once she's got it fully the way she wants.

Since we were able to get Dink's stuff in the night before, hubby and I had some free time Sunday morning while Dink slept in. We spent it driving around the area, looking at potential "hey we could live here" neighborhoods. I also took some time to take some photos of the yard around the house we were staying.( Read more... )

Tomorrow's post will be the trip home, with cute cat pics. *g*

Have a good Friday, everyone.

When I stood up this morning and glanced out the window:

He/she sat there for the longest time, just contemplating reality, until finally scampering off when I had to open the front door to take Boom out. We very rarely see chipmunks here--this is perhaps the 3rd time I've seen one, and the first time ever seeing one on the front porch. You'd think there'd be scads, as this is prime habitat, but if there are, they stay hidden. I suspect if I put out food specifically for them, I could attract a lot more, but I hear they're actually fairly destructive little varmints, so I'm actually a bit glad to have only seen one or two over the years.

Dink got her car back from her uncle yesterday. I drove her over to his shop and she left for work while I stayed behind to chat--and ended up chatting for about 45 minutes! My BiL is quite a talker when he's away from a family gathering. He told me all about a health issue he's developed (he's 60) in where he's allergic to darn near every food group. Barley, corn, dairy, even things like garlic and peanut butter, all give him horrible hives all over (but he can have certain types of wheat--my SiL makes him homemade bread that doesn't set him off). He can't even eat beef if it's from a corn-fed cow (but he can eat grass-fed beef, so it's not something like alpha gal, which renders you unable to eat ANY mammalian meat). He's finally sorted out what not to eat, but it's been a hard road since it started about a year ago. None of the doctors he's seen can figure out what caused it, but he's seeing a naturopath now who at least has sorted out how to abate the symptoms. During the worst of it, he lost 70 lbs in 2 months. I can see why doctors are mystified--at first they'd consider, "Oh, celiac... but you can eat some wheat." Then they decide, "Oh... *insert something else*... but you can eat *something you normally can't with that*..." ysilme , it reminds me of the issues you have, actually, though I think you've got yours sorted into actual named disorders.

Life can certainly throw you a curve.

My sister is coming this weekend, yay! It'll be rainy Saturday evening, but she's driving down Saturday morning, and by evening we'll be ensconced in the theater watching Black Widow. I'm grateful for being vaccinated.

Cut for anti-vaxxer rant.... (and by "anti-vaxxer," I specifically mean anti-Covid vaccine):

( Read more... )

Sorry about the rant, but the rage I've been feeling lately is just rather unbelievable.

I hope everyone has a good weekend.

Happy Friday!

Just an FYI, I won't be posting Saturday or Sunday, most likely, because I'll be visiting with my sister. \o/

Yesterady I straightened up her room and washed the bedding, and had hubby remove our large, defunct TV that had drifted in there (by "drifted," I mean "Dink hauled in there in her attempt to co-opt the room... she's like nature, she abhors a vacuum and any unused room tends to fill up with her stuff and her plans to repurpose said room.) (Also like nature, she abhors vacuuming as well.) I cleaned bathrooms and ran the dustmop around the floors to corral wayward herds of Pip Fur that had gathered under the dining room chairs and table and under couches and chairs and in corners and... well, those of you with cats and hardwood floors know what I'm talking about.

Today I'll wiat for a break in the rain to do the grocery shopping before she gets here later this afternoon (if there is a break, that is). I doubt we'll go out to eat tonight, but we might. Any plans beyond shopping and lunch tomorrow are very fluid. No pun intended, but... heh.

Between grocery shopping and finishing up cleaning, I want to finish my current book, Transcendent Kingdom, by Yaa Gyasi. It's been a good read, about an immigrant family from Ghana, living in Alabama. I was drawn to it in part because I'm trying to expand my normal reading to include more books by people of color, but I was also drawn to it because I had a friend in college from Ghana, so there's some personal connection to the story. I was expecting it to deal most heavily with racism--it's a black family, an immigrant one no less, living in the Deep South, after all--but it's far deeper than that, focusing also on mental illness, addiction, neurobiology, and in large part how faith from childhood changes and shifts as one moves into adulthood and the internal dissonance that causes (which I also really relate to, although for me it's not a childhood faith so much as a young adulthood faith tradition I no longer completely adhere to). Really a fascinating book, reading more like a memoir though it's psychological/domestic fiction. I have about 15 pages to go, which is a good thing because it's due back to the library tomorrow. XD

Happy Friday!

I had to drive to a shoe store on the other side of the city, but it was worth the trip, as I came away with two pairs of shoes, both on sale. \o/
( Read more... )

I'm very, very pleased with both. Neither are suitable for day-long walking, of course, but they're perfect for when I want to look pulled together for a wedding, graduation, girls lunch out etc etc etc. (Or shopping in local boutiques that normally intimidate me because I have never ever had an outfit as pulled together as the people who shop in those boutiques....)

Speaking of lunch, Dink wants to go out to lunch for taco Tuesday. My scale says I should NOT do that, but... we haven't been able to have lunch together in over a year, so... *sighs and resigns myself to a lecture from the doc at next week's appointment*

Now I best be off to get an extra round on the treadmill...

Happy Tuesday!

We watched the first episode of The Falcon and The Winter Soldier and... yeah, it was awesome. So much good, meaty personal moments with both Bucky and Sam. Watching Bucky trying to navigate the modern world was both hilarious and heartbreaking. And seeing Sam dealing with systemic racism made me want to punch stuff. I can already tell that this series is going to provide everything I'd hoped for.

After we finished watching TFAWS, we watched the last episode of NCIS that's available for "free" on Netflix--now we'll have to decide when to subscribe to Paramount+ to watch the rest. I think there's 3 seasons streaming on it that aren't available on Netflix. We reached the point where Abbie left... what a heartbreaking episode. :'( I was afraid I wouldn't like whoever replaced her, but I already adore Kasie. Sometimes it takes me a while to warm up to a new character--like Torres, who I didn't like at first--but they're just so good at writing the characters that it doesn't take me long to settle in to changes (although I still want DiNozzo back *le sigh*).

We finished the night watching hockey. Dink had a friend stay over because they were leaving before dawn for a weekend in Kansas City, so we ended up staying up late and waking up early, so I'm feeling a bit fuzzy and in need of more coffee this morning. Not sure what hubby and I will do with a weekend to ourselves. Probably the same stuff we always do, with the added bonus of eating stuff we like that Dink doesn't, like BBQ. *g* Hubby is off doing the grocery shopping, and he also has the dryer opened up so he can do a thorough diagnostic on it. He did report that the vent was clear, at least. He also ordered a new lightbulb, which burned out so long ago that I forgot it has one.

May your Saturday be a good one.

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cairistiona

February 2025

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Page Summary

Where's Waldo, er, I mean Bambi...
This and that on a Sunday morning...
Dink update...
Doctors and butterflies...
This and that and a bit of an interesting weekend...
The sprinkler is installed...
No damage here...
Day 3...
Chipmunk!
Friday and seeing my sister at last!
Shoes! I haz two pairs!
Squeeing....

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cairistiona's place

Home of Aragorn-a-Day and Other Rangery Ramblings

Entries tagged with ramblings

Where's Waldo, er, I mean Bambi...

This and that on a Sunday morning...

Dink update...

Doctors and butterflies...

This and that and a bit of an interesting weekend...

The sprinkler is installed...

No damage here...

Day 3...

Chipmunk!

Friday and seeing my sister at last!

Shoes! I haz two pairs!

Squeeing....