I Habe a Cowd...

As I sit here watching the leaves blow off the front maple tree, "The Good Earth" is on the television, and I'm brewing my "umpteenth" cup of tea, as well as diffusing Young Living Essential Oils "Raven" blend. Hubby says it smells like menthol rub - it does, but not a lot. Just enough.  I've got a cold. Now, it's been brewing for a few days, so it's no surprise. It's just better to stay home from church (and the peace sign/hugs) when one has been up coughing in the night. 

Watching Paul Muni and Luise Ranier play Chinese characters...Nothing like Hollywood cultural appropriation. Looks like Chinese folks were extras. Nice of them. 

Anyway. I got someone to sub for my Yin class just so I don't cough my way through that. I'll be at work Monday, but I may as well give myself another day (was home yesterday, too). I swear, I'm normally healthy as a horse, but I'm not sure why I've been smacked with this mess. 

At least I'm pottering around the house. Though I did go out yesterday for a haircut and -- finally - a pedicure. I've only been trying to plan that for 6 or 7 months. Yeah, I know - real "First World" issues. But because of my insane schedule, I usually don't schedule them. I rely on the ability to get a last-minute appointment at my favorite place. Second-favorite, but quickly becoming first on the list if the other place doesn't get its act together and finish its remodel!

This is an OPI color, called "Teal the Cows Come Home." It matches my flip-flops, and looks more blue in the bottle. More teal on the toes. I usually buy the ones I want and bring them. I don't know why, but it just makes me feel better knowing that I'm the only one who's used that particular bottle. I've never had a problem, but I know people who have, and I don't want to start having any issues. Of course, I go to a regular salon and they're pretty strict on their sanitation protocols, but still - you never know. And I'd rather be safe than sorry. Don't need an infection to slow me down --- when I've got a cold that'll do the same thing!

Knitting...

I'm doing Christmas hats; I was just thinking that perhaps I should have made a blue one for Kid #1 - he loves red, but his coat is blue. Maybe I'll just make two of them and let them figure out which one each one wants. 

It's coming along - about another row, I think, then starting the purl ridges. The remainder of the red yarn will be stuck into the "Prayer Patch" bag and we'll do more squares - a nice Episcopal red!

I stuck the "October" cross stitch banner on the front door. Inside, though! This is a Lizzie Kate design, done in the hand-dyed floss. I created the pillow out of my own head; the backside is a Halloween-orange and the ribbon is orange gross-grain. I have a few more of these. One of these days, I should do the other ones - for the holidays. 

I haven't really made any progress on the Monkey sock; I've been pushing to get the hats done. The socks are for me, so we can wait on those. 

I should pick up the Grapevine Lace scarf; it's almost done. It would be nice to have it done for when the weather finally settles into the cold. I'll see how much I can get done with the red hat; maybe switch off with that before I start the other hat. 

The Latest Shooting...

I'd like to think we could go a month without a shooting. But we can't. And that maniac in Washington doesn't think he's to blame. 


Let's see. 

"Fake news."
"Fake media."
"I'd bail you out if you hit him." 
"He can body slam you."
"Lock her up!"

Get the picture? In his latest rally (because, you know, there's nothing else he's got to do), he thought about moderating his hate-speech, but his rabid hordes shouted "NO" -- so he didn't. 

Kid #2 made this stencil for me a year ago. I don't even remember which shooting. A school, I think. It's amazing that it's still relevant, isn't it?

Maybe it's not so amazing. 

I'm voting in the November 6th election. Everyone needs to. Someone needs to temper the baser instincts of humanity in this country. It's got to be us. 

Reading This...

I asked a friend of mine about how one learns more in regard to church. I've only been an Episcopalian about 5 or 6 years. And honestly, I know a lot more about the Catholic church, having been born & raised in that religion. So I've just kind of picked up stuff as I've seen it. But I'd like to know more. She recommended this book. I've been reading it, and it's cool - I understand more of what we do and why we do it. 

She loaned me her copy, and then I bought one of my own. I found that I wanted to underline and highlight! Not that I'd do it in her copy, of course. 

And I'm reading a Kinsey Millhone book (Sue Grafton's Alphabet Series): "W for Wasted." Sue Grafton died recently, and she almost got to "Z" - her last book is "Y" and her family said that she didn't leave any outline or manuscript. 

I'm actually hoping they do NOT find anything - or they do NOT hire a ghost writer to complete the series. They did that for VC Andrews, and I'm sorry; it's crap. 

Sometimes, the stories just have to die with the authors. I loved her writing (Grafton's I' mean). And now she's gone. And that's why "the alphabet ends in Y..."

Random Picture...

While home sick, you may notice all kinds of things. I noticed that the neighbor's car just about matched the leaves on my tree. Which have thinned considerably, given this morning's wind. It's cloudy and the wind is blowing. A great day to stay inside and make chicken soup. Hopefully, we have enough garlic. Maybe I'll add orzo and grab some carrots out of the garden in between the raindrops. And if I'm really lucky, I'll have some mushrooms and leeks frozen. Or even chopped kale. I'll take it. 

I like to make soup when it's real "fall" weather. And when I feel like crap. It not only makes the house smell good, but it feels good as well. And it gives me stuff to eat for lunches. I freeze it in portion-controlled containers and take it in a thermos (no microwave at work). 

The other night, I did a chicken and quinoa dish in the Instant Pot. I have to branch out...one of these days! I know you can do a lot with it; I just never think about it till it's just about time to eat. It's not that quick - still takes about 10 minutes to prep, 5 - 10 to get up to pressure and then however long it takes to cook. So "instant" is relative. It's quicker than baking, in many cases, and quicker than using a crock pot. 

Either way. Soup. Yum! What's your favorite cold-weather, turning-fall recipe? Share, please!

And Even More Excitement...

No, thankfully, nobody else is pregnant and no babies due are here yet. I'm not being mean - I'm just still recovering from "baby knitting!"

But I took an interesting phone call, and while I normally don't pick up calls where I don't recognize the number, I'm kind of glad I picked up THIS call.

Because Hubby's identity was stolen, and Ginormous Cell Phone Company was going to toss him into collections for a bill he owed. 

Except we've never had an account with Ginormous Cell Phone Company - ever. We have The Other Ginormous  Cell Phone Company as our carrier. 

Soooooooooo - after losing his temper (ahem!), we got hold of an actual human at GCPC and they walked him through what to do. I mean, I get it: the guy on the phone, from the collection agency, has probably heard every single excuse in the book. And he's used to people saying, "It's not me!" But he was rather obnoxious. And Hubby, being in the middle of a VERY large family? He can give as good as he gets... We got a police report, checked all of the credit bureaus, and gathered proof that we have indeed been at this particular address "for more than 10 years." 

What's even worse was that the ID theft occurred in town! Someone who lives across town managed to open an account at GCPC with Hubby's name, at a different address. 

It was a mess. But it turns out that we were able to swiftly provide what they needed, and GCPC will (a) clear Hubby's record; and (b) eat the large bill that they said he owed. Which, of course, he doesn't owe...

Message received: Check your credit reports annually! If we'd done that, we'd have noticed that GCPC had run checks on his credit and maybe we'd have questioned it earlier. 

Crock-Pot Dinner...

I woke up with a migraine. I think it's related to my shoulder issue and it finally culminated in a headache that I couldn't shake. It's Father's Day and I was planning on a lovely bike ride with Hubby. Well. Another plan shot down the crapper...

Hubby pulled chicken out of the freezer, and suggested we do something with it in the crock pot just so we can not have to worry about cooking. Right now, he's making a horrible racket fixing one of the baby (dog) gates, and Quinn's sitting here wondering what all the chaos is about...

I browned the chicken, grabbed a package of mushrooms and leeks from the freezer, pulled three large cloves of garlic out of the garlic keeper, and then found a sprig of last year's Rosemary in the freezer. All I added was pepper. And I used (yeah, don't judge - migraine, remember?) "cream of something" soup. 

We haven't used canned creamed soups in ages, but frankly? My head's pounding. I'm dizzy, and feel like crap. We're lucky I got this far. 

Why, you ask, isn't Hubby taking care of dinner? Because he cooks all week long, and I figured that if I just plowed through, ignoring the headache, it would go away. 

I'm wrong; it's not leaving. But that's beside the point. 

I just wanted to do it, and I figured this was simple enough that, even in a migraine-haze, I couldn't screw this up. He'll boil up some noodles when it's closer to dinner time, and we'll be good to go. I'll add some veggies to the crock-pot for a little color, and we'll be fine. Somehow, I missed that we had a couple of bags of leeks in the freezer downstairs... That's ok - Hubby doesn't like mushrooms, but thankfully, what I have in there - they're big enough for him to pick out. 

If I even feel like eating, it should be good. Which I probably won't. 

I bought a little 12-oz Thermos thing that I can take to work, since we don't have a kitchen or break area. I usually go to the local Starbucks, buy some iced tea, and eat there. The little Thermos holds the food hot and has a little spoon (metal, even!) in the stopper. I figure that if we shred the chicken I can take it for lunch on Monday. 

How My Garden Grows...

This is the first year we haven't planted a lot of flowers. We let our "last year" wildflowers come up and some of the perennials are doing quite nicely. We trimmed out the dill, which is next to the Prairie Blazing Star, as it was (per usual) taking over the front bed. The shade bed under the maple tree is doing well, but has minimal blossoms right now. I expect to have to thin out the Brown Eyed Susan this year. 

We cut the Prairie Blazing Star (see left) in half, sending that part to my friend up in the UP. She sent me some Milkweed seeds, which I have to wait till Fall to plant. 

Milkweed needs to winter over - which is why the seeds in the little Seedles balls didn't sprout last year. Who knew? Well, now I know... We have one Milkweed plant this year, which is fine; I'll know where to plant the seeds. I understand I can place a rubber band around the pods if I don't want them to "go dill" on me and take over the yard! 

The Gaillardia came back nicely - I love this flower. My old neighbor from VA, Mrs. Silver, had a HUGE patch of this in her back yard, along the fence. I always loved it. It's a variation, she claimed, of the Brown Eyed Susan. It was the first time I'd ever seen it, though the Brown Eyed Susan grew like crazy in IL while I was growing up. Unfortunately, the areas where it used to grow? Now they've been 'growing houses' in those fields... All look-alike, beige cookie-cutter houses. And that's supposed to be progress, they say. 

Hubby put up the hummingbird feeders, and we did see one. He just bought a pair of big hanging baskets; it's hard to find them with hummer-friendly flowers. I have to tell you: petunias don't do it! He found a pair with Lobelia in there, so we know that'll be ok. The birds (songbirds, I mean) have been visiting the birdfeeders, and we have to get ourselves straight on the birdbaths. One of the glass ones from last year cracked, so we're down to one in front and one in back. 

We finally saw a Blue Jay - they were decimated a while back with West Nile Virus, as were the crows. We'd been hearing him, but he didn't decide to show himself till recently. It was nice to see him back. 

The Bee Balm (pink) came back in great form! It's doing its thing, and we're happy to see that it seems to like being next to the lilac. The bees are enjoying it, and again - once the hummingbirds come around more regularly? Maybe they'll enjoy it, too. I found a second variety that I was going to plant at the studio, but I decided to plant it at home. It's a purple variety - and Bee Balm is also supposed to attract butterflies. So the purple one is next to the dill, which is a favorite of Swallowtails. We'll see how this works out. 


All of our solar lights have simultaneously died - and to replace the batteries would cost more than what I spent on the lights! We will work on some of the lo-voltage lights, but may not get to them this year. We also really haven't done anything with the concept of the flower beds next to the new deck. 

It seems like we're just letting summer unfold this year. And maybe we just need to do that. The garden is mostly where I wanted it anyway: lots more native plants rather than what I call 'garden center' stuff. There's nothing wrong with that. I like a nice petunia, a nice geranium, etc. Just that I wanted more "prairie" than "big box" look to the garden and I wanted it to be unique. 

I mean, don't get me wrong. I've got lilacs in the front yard, and day lilies. And Icelandic Poppy - not exactly a native plant! And our foxgloves aren't the native ones (which are pretty - I'll have to go looking for those!). But I wanted to make sure that we had a garden that attracted the bees, butterflies and hummingbirds so that we had our chance to contribute to keeping them on track. Yeah, it's little -- not like we have an "estate." But every little bit helps. At least I think so. 

Knitting...

Continuing to forge ahead on the yoke of the February Lady Sweater. I will try it on in a few rows (and also, as soon as the Deep Relief roll-on that I put on my neck dries!). Then, I should be able to get back to the lace pattern and feel like I'm making progress. 

Not that I'm getting ahead of myself, but I'm wondering what to make with the remaining yarn. There's quite a bit of it. And I don't know if I want to perhaps seek out some ivory or a darker shade of lilac and do a sweater with contrasting yoke? Or maybe a shawlette? I mean, mitts aren't out of the question, though I'm starting to think that perhaps silk + merino isn't the greatest combo for something like a mitt that may take a bit of punishment. As I look at where my hands rest on the laptop, I see the potential for wear and tear that would likely bug the snot out of me at some point. And who needs that?

My vision is to finish this sweater, finish TWO "second socks" (mainly the Bowties are Cool and the other Sole to Sole (blue/yellow stripe), then the Shape-It scarf, then dive into stash to get the next project rolling. Oh and sometime before I hit my next birthday: finish the Dreaded Teal Sock. 

Yeah - longtime readers will remember that poor pathetic thing... One day, I'll finish it. And I want to get to a point where I have a dozen pair of hand-knit socks. That means at least 3 more pair to finish. 

I'd like to whip out another sweater, too. I have a couple of patterns plus yarn, and I think I could at least start one. 

It's fun planning - almost as much fun as the knitting!


Random Picture...

One of my favorites. And I will post this as many times as I can. This young lady is one of Tippi's biggest fans. She's going to be a doctor. She's studying hard, and is an outstanding student -- and human being!


We have so much fear of "the other." This country is being torn apart by people who can barely have a conversation about what day of the week it is... We need to recognize our own fundamental humanity. 

We want to compartmentalize people. We need them to fit into little check-boxes or our own little - tiny, sometimes irrational - preconceived notions of what "that kind" of person is. 

They're human. We're all human. And if we, as specks on the backside of the Universe, are going to come out of this in one piece -- and IN peace -- we need to recognize that we have to start looking at each other "with a child's eyes." With the notion, especially if you're going to claim that you're a Christian, that each of us is a child of God. Doesn't matter WHICH God. Because you know what? In each of the major religions, the Golden Rule is the same: treat your fellow being as you wish to be treated. 

Look at how you treat people. Then look at yourself - take a good long look. Are you following the Golden Rule? The only way to peace among us is to do that. You don't have to be a doormat. 

You have to be a human. 

By the way, this is my 500th blog post!! Yayyyy!! Comments welcome, of course!