I had a zillion things in my mind. Then Vegas. Then the Mango Moron tossing paper towels like he was slinging t-shirts at a ballgame. Then overwhelm from having to be at all 3 jobs in one day (which is my usual Thursday, but today it hit me for some reason).
So. Pictures.
Black-and-white week...a 7-day challenge on Facebook. This is one of my favorites and it was a favorite in color, too. Taken a few years back, when the glass birdbaths were new and the solar bubbler worked. We put the birdbath under the tree (which, three years ago, didn't take up half the front yard). The tree kept the water cooler for the birds, and we were able to string the solar panel out into the front flower garden. Now, that flower garden is full of native plants, and the tree has taken over most of that side of the front lawn. No solar panel is going to work while that maple is alive. But I wouldn't trade the tree. Well -- MAYBE... I'd love a fountain in the front yard. 
The studio is ready for fall. I removed the African Violets, all of which need re-potting. I did actually repot the orchid I purchased, and I have to get that back to the studio this week, before the weather turns to crap. (Oh joy... as I try to space this, the website is acting flaky, much like my Pandora tonight in class...) So I needed something on the little 3-part table. Mini-pumpkins, a goose-neck gourd and a ghost pumpkin fill the bill. It all kind of goes with the salt lamp. Oh, and there's a little bumpy gourd in there, too. I have to get The Great Pumpkin out on the porch this weekend. Hubby and I have both been in a slump for a few years now, and if we manage a few "garden flags" that are Halloween-ish and getting the big plastic pumpkin out there? We call it a day. I have ghosts, skeletons, etc. And I haven't got the energy to fiddle with them. If it's half-way decent this weekend, I may get some lawn stakes in the ground. Not sure about the ghosts though. And those are the ones I can easily reach in the basement!
(Ok, now I see... when I load the pictures first, the spacing goes wonky!! I knew that. Really, I did. So this time, you have to put up with chunky paragraphs. My apologies.)
The shawl... continues to grow. I shouldn't knit on it when I'm tired. I've been tired this week, and I can't figure out why. It's nothing medical, I'm sure. The hematologist said my numbers were a little low, but then again -- on the "orthodontic diet" I haven't been eating a lot of protein. So maybe things are catching up and I'm finding that juggling isn't my forte. It is what it is. I'll bounce back like a weeble. I usually do. After a few days of snappishness I'll be ok. Anyway, what ended up happening is that I bound off the 8 stitches on the wrong side. So unpicking a whack of bound off stitches was not cool. I did it. I didn't give myself a heart attack, but it was close. I had to lift stitches off the needle, hold them so that it wouldn't ravel, and then get the stitches back on in the right order. I'm sure I've got a few twisted, but I can fix a twisted stitch easily. This weekend, I want to pursue a sock so I can feel like I'm not wallowing in one project.
That being said (yay, normal spacing!), I'm actually already at the half-way point of the 14-times repeat of rows 3 - 12. So I'm sort of half-way done? Ish? I'm still having a tiny concept problem as to how this comes back to a narrow end. I can't quite get it in my head. I love schematics. I miss schematics.
The other thing I love is old books. So at church today -- well, in the church office, I'm working on a project. I saw these books and I took a picture which I posted on Instagram (find me there at perrierpat). The smallest of the books here, called "Key to Heaven" is from 1907. I took a shot of the inscriptions on the two oldest ones. To the left here, the oldest one is the tiny one in the bottom left corner of the picture. I also found the other inscription on the book in the upper right, which is a prayer book. That one actually looks to have two inscriptions and I have to study it a little more to see if it's really two different owners, or maybe 3. The name on the cover is one thing, and the top inscription is from 1946. The second, in similar but "not quite" handwriting, is 10 years older. Two different inks, which is not a big deal. But the handwriting isn't quite right, if it's the same woman's prayer book. 
Either way, I'm rather fascinated at how they came to be in the library of a church in Lockport, Illinois,which doesn't seem to follow if you look at the first inscription. Both inscriptions appear to be made by the book's owner(s) since they say "presented to me." I'll have to ask one of our long-term members if she remembers a family by the name on the front of the book. Perhaps she can explain the double inscriptions. Either way, all the books are lovely and I have them in the church office. We're setting up for a rummage sale, and the library area will be cleared out. I don't want these beauties to be mistaken for "books for sale." If I have to stash them in a cabinet, I'm cool with that. I do know that we get a lot of folks coming around for that rummage sale, so I may have to poke around myself. Seems Kid #2 wants a particular book for Christmas. I'm about 99.99999% sure I won't find it at the church rummage sale.
I'll have to go to my "secret source," Abe Books out of New York. I found one for him last year and I swear he wanted to cry, but wanted to be "manly."
Across the parking lot, there's a Methodist church. The steeple was very pretty today. The sun hit it just right. The air was clear. The sky was blue. The clouds were light. The copper on the roof reflected the sunlight in a gorgeous burst of color. That copper contrasted strongly with the white clapboards on the steeple, the steel of the cross and the red brick of the rest of the building. Our chapel has a more modest cross, and it's a little more low-slung. That being said, our building is almost 180 years old... And it had already burned to the ground once. So I'll take it. Speaking of which, as I was in the church today, God and the ghosts were a little cranky. The church is haunted. I truly believe that. I've never seen anything, but I was in there today to drop off bulletins, and someone walked up the aisle. And I was the only one in the church at the time. I was looking for the water for the plants, and heard the boards creak. I stepped out of the sacristy and basically said, "If you're coming out here, please help me find the jug of water!" After that, I was able to find it. I wonder who it was that was visiting...
I saw these two beauties (I jest. I jest.) on my drive to job #2... On the same truck. There was another one on the back window, but the guy had a very strange cab on his truck bed and I couldn't see it clearly. Of course, I had to follow him nearly all the way to the office. Funny, him having those bumper stickers and shopping at the Aldi -- which is, of course, a German grocery store. I guess that's proof that you really CAN'T tell who's who. I remember thinking, "So your president is a cold dead body?" And funny enough, the "liberal" media? Ha. Don't even. The largest media company is owned by a conservative. I'm afraid it's not very kind of me, but I will judge you on your bumper stickers.
...and tonight there's a Harvest Moon. Of course, this is all off my phone. I really have to start hauling my camera! It looked like the Man in the Moon had a moustache the way the clouds were blowing over. It's supposed to rain Friday through Sunday. Heaven only knows if we'll have garden yoga.
Reminds me of the Canticle of St. Francis, which is appropriate since his feast day is ... now-ish, I think! St. Francis called them Brother Sun and Sister Moon. Sister Moon tonight? She's a beauty. Doesn't have to be a big huge moon - and often, those are so low on the horizon, we can't see them anyway. I like this one. This is over the cemetery. If it holds out, maybe I can get the camera out and get some decent shots of it. 
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