Too Bad None of You Are Close Enough To Be My Masseuse

It was a busy Sunday, but at least the weather was good and it wasn't super cold. DH went to the shop to work on some stuff and he was gone until mid-late afternoon when he went out to rake. I raked leaves for about three hours until my back gave out. I've been in pain ever since. Nothing much to be done about that, just let things be and it will calm down again. But I didn't get as much raked as I wanted. I should have looked for the leaf blower in the garage, but I'm not really sure how to use it and what, specific, engine it attaches to - it could be one of two different lawn systems that DH owns. 

We've got a leaf blower that fits onto one of the two possible 
motor sets we own, but I don't know which one it fits, nor 
how it operates. So I'm stuck using manual labor - a rake. I'm 
good with a rake, but I wrenched my left lower back while 
raking yesterday and I hurt. The last few loads were really 
difficult for me to get down to our dumping ground. 

But, I did what I could. I tried the treadmill this morning, but only managed about 15 minutes before my back twinged again, so I stopped right then and there and I'll try to borrow one of the high stools that we have at the shop for the day so that I can perch a bit instead of stand all day. 

We have several high stools at the shop, I'll 
have to grab one of them for perching or I 
won't make it through the day. DH will be at 
the computer for the day, so I won't be able to 
sit at that chair, and there aren't any other 
seating arrangements I can use. 

It's a left, lower back twinge, below the waist but above the pelvic bone, and it hurts. It hurts to sit, it hurts to stand and I assume it was hurting while I slept, but I was too exhausted to pay any attention - LOL. Just one more thing in my life - LOL. I'm sure I'll be fine in another week or so. 

My lower back pain is on my left side, around 
the waist area and doesn't extend farther 
down (fortunately). Of course, at the waist 
level, it gets affected by every movement. GRRRR

For those of you who picked up playing "Arrows" on your phones, did yours turn to a black background with colored arrows over the weekend? My world is suddenly much more than black and white - LOL. I'm totally addicted to this game - it's challenging, and it doesn't take forever to do a round. I've always been attracted to puzzles like this, so I'm very pleased I found it when I was looking for a new phone game. The colored version, I think, is a bit easier in some aspects. You can follow an arrow through its' shape with greater ease. All I know is I'm on level 718 and I've only been playing it for a bit more than a week. *sigh* Addictions! LOL 

Arrows switched to a black background with neon colored 
arrows over the weekend. I don't mind it, and in some ways 
it makes things a bit easier, but it was quite a shift from 
the B/W version I'd been used to playing. I still recommend 
it, though. It's keeping my interest and I'm into the 700 levels 
now. LOL

I'm going to wrap this up, grab breakfast and head to the shop. Have a really excellent Monday and I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini. 

I'm Almost On Time Today - LOL

I got to the bank on time, and got everything done in my very busy early morning. I apologize for running out of time yesterday. It's rare that I'll mess things up like that, especially on a non-swim day. But ... life happens - LOL. Today I at least have 15 minutes to post. 

Having that extra 15 minutes is SO important. 

It's winter dry now here in the Frozen Northlands. It's odd how winter can be so dry because we're in the snow belt, and we generally end up with a lot of moisture by the end of Spring. But, right now, we're fully into Autumn, and that's a drying out season. The trees shed their leaves (my yard is a carpet of chestnut brown in the front, and golden oak leaves in the back), and raking them becomes a priority. DH will have to start doing that, but he's so busy at the shop working on the inventory, etc., I don't know when/how he'll find the time. We've tried blowing them before, but we have a LOT of leaves - well more than 20 trees worth in the actual yard area, and more bordering the edges that we don't bother with. 

Most of our trees are maple trees - not sugar maples, just 
regular ones. But their Fall foliage is always spectacular - 
reds and golds - just stunning. Almost worth the work it 
takes to rake them up and get them into our compost pile. 

We've had a hard freeze now, so I'll have to check my herbs. Sometimes they can actually pass through a couple of hard frosts before dying down. If so, I'll get the last of the rosemary and thyme harvested and into the dehydrator. The last of the peppers got harvested and dried late last week. I'm very pleased with the crop I managed to get this year. Just wonderful - like sunshine in a container when I add some to my meals. 

I tend to powder my peppers instead of just grind them into 
flakes, but both are useable. It's lovely to have an assortment 
of them to take me through the snowy months. 

So, I'm off to the pool for my first swim of the week. I always look forward to being in the pool, even though it's total hell on my skin. Still, in my mind, it's well worth it. I need the workout, and I don't want to be on the treadmill six days a week. Plus, I have friends there that I've had for several years now (in some cases), and it's always a pleasure to catch up with them. So ... I'm out of here. I hope you have a wonderful Tuesday and I'll be back tomorrow for a shopping, cooking and cleaning day. Be safe, be kind and Slava Ukraini. 

It's Saturday and I Need a Weekend

I had a good run this morning, even without my virtual scenery. I've been using the same system that I use in the pool - listening to my latest audio book. It works well. I'm watching the clock a bit more often on the treadmill than I do in the pool, but that's because it's right in front of me - hard to miss - LOL. I got my 45 minutes in, and that's what's important. I'm sure I'll have my virtual scenery back within the next week, but I might continue to listen to the book rather than my Sirius XM station. Hard to say ... I don't always think clearly when I'm exercising at 5:00 am. 

Sometimes it's best to not be thinking with great 
clarity when hitting the treadmill after my morning 
meditation - LOL. 

DH has been in a foul mood for the past few days, and that's been problematic, since I wanted to discuss some things with him and he closes his ears to me when he's in this type of mood. But I'll keep myself primed to discuss when the time seems optimal. No telling when that will be, but it (hopefully) will be soon. 

Sometimes we all can get into a foul mood. I'm not an 
exception to this either, but right now, it's DH's turn. 

The garden is starting to wind down. I got a great crop of beans from my pole bean plants, and they're still bearing and will until a hard freeze. I'm still getting some herbs from my plants, and some of the peppers are still bearing. But the tomatoes have given up for the season now, and it's apparent that our crisp mornings are slowing the growth of the plants, in general. Autumn is here, and even though we won't be losing leaves until late October into November, the colors that she is showing this year are spectacular. I do adore autumn colors. 

We're not at peak color yet in the Twin Cities, but the 
North Shore, along Lake Superior is glowing. So beautiful! 

I'm calling this short and done today. I have too much on my mind to spend much time writing my blog today. I hope all of you, my friends both near and far, have a wonderful weekend and I plan to be back at the keyboard on Monday morning. Slava Ukraini. 

October Has Arrived, Autumn Is Officially Here

Welcome to October. The year is slipping away, faster than we would have believed in January, slower than we think when we are facing the month/year/lifetime. It's rather amazing how those many days of life condense into shards of memories that mingle in a soup, rising to the surface for recognition every now and again, before sinking back into the broth once again. It's a "Day Off" for me, and as usual, I have a bunch of stuff that needs doing - primarily three or more loads of laundry, but also a bit of cleaning here and there, and some framing. I won't be bored today. 

October is one of my favorite months, even though it's a lot 
of work raking up our leaves, and we might get an early 
snowstorm or two. The colors of autumn are my favorite 
colors, so the entire world celebrates the end of summer 
and beginning of winter alongside all of us. 

Right now, however, I'm comfortable, dressed in my skinsuit for the pool, and ready to put the trash can out onto the curb as I leave. I'll check the yard waste bucket when I get back home - I need a bit more light for that one. I suspect I'll have something worth putting out - DH was planting daffodils yesterday afternoon. But there's no guarantee that I'll have a bucket's worth of yard waste worth putting out for pick-up. 

October brings the harvest time - lots of vegetables, the 
last of the summer stone fruits, and pumpkins! Lots of 
pumpkins. I love the colors of autumn more than any 
other season. They suit me - those russets, oranges, and 
splashes of yellow. 

It's October, however. This is the month when the leaves that started to turn in September, fully go colorful, and then fall. By the end of the month we will have raked several times and perhaps taken at least one trip out to the recycling location to drop off a load or two of leaves. It's a fact - when you own a house, there's never really an "off" month - a month when you can just sit back, enjoy your yard and garden and not have to water, weed, harvest, mow, and/or rake. Still, Autumn is one of my favorite seasons. Mother Nature paints our world with extraordinary colors and those splashes of yellow, orange, and fire red will keep me warm throughout the winter whites and greys until I return to the promise of springtime's gentle greens. 

The colors of Autumn are my favorite colors, so it 
becomes one of my favorite seasons (except for raking 
all of our MANY leaves every year - that's a chore!). 

Today is a normal Wednesday. I have a couple of bills to pay and my first load of laundry for the day is already in the washer, I'll do a bit of grocery shopping, a bit of housecleaning, and a bit of this and that. I hope you have a simply lovely day and I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini. 

It Turned Into a Great Day - It Was a Busy One, Though

Yesterday actually went pretty well. I'm one of those people who despises the concept of "late". I'm early. for everything. I've always joked that I was probably born before the full nine months of growth in the womb, because when pressed, I'll always try to arrive early. Yesterday's appointments were no exception to that. 

It was a stunning Fall day yesterday, so in addition to 
the blue skies and the charmed schedule, I had a 
chance to drive through and look at a lot of the gorgeous 
autumn leaves. They'll start falling pretty quickly now. 
The temperatures will demand it. 

I arrived and checked in for my mammogram more than 15 minutes early, and she called my name, did the 3-D procedure, and I was out of there walking in the parking lot before my actual scheduled appointment time had arrived. I headed up to my Orthodontist from there, and again, arrived early. Still, they have a very comfortable waiting room, and I always have a book I'm reading on my phone. My name was called, and the technician pulled my wires. Sure enough, the cap came off when the wire was removed. She cleaned it and put it into a small envelope for me. 

I now had some time, and it was 2nd Tuesday - a day when I try to get to my co-op for a great deal on my collagen powder. So, I drove down to the co-op, picked up my "ice cream" bars and collagen (they have a great deal on "wellness" products on the 2nd Wednesday of the month, and there was also a $3 manufacturer's coupon - bringing my usual $44 price down into the mid-$30 range). Putting them into the chiller in my trunk, I headed off again towards home. 

But there was still time and DH was possibly still home. I decided to do a quick grocery shop since I had the time, so I got the last red pears and four Red Lady apples to bake, as well as the chicken I needed for dinner and veggies, then headed home, got everything put away and the fruit cut up. I decided to head over to the dentist before baking the pear/apple combo, so put everything into the fridge to marinade and headed out. 

I arrived about 45 minutes early for that appointment, but was called in almost immediately, and I was out of there, crown cleaned and re-attached, within a half hour. Charge? $38! Sweet! I dropped off a package I'd been intending to return to Amazon, and then headed back to the Orthodontist. I was almost an hour early for my 1:00 pm appointment, but they got me in quickly, reattached my wires and the elastic braid I've had, and voila - I was through with the back and forth. Time to cook. 

The rest of the day was spent cooking - my baked pears and apples combo, and a butternut squash in maple syrup - chatting with Aearwen, and generally enjoying a lovely afternoon. I can't complain at all. It was one of our last beautiful Autumn days, and I had the opportunity to spend a lot of it outdoors, all around the Cities, looking at lovely and colorful trees and a perfect, blue sky. SCORE! Now, if my teams had only won their games yesterday. Oh well, I can't have everything. LOL Have an excellent day and I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini and חיים לישראל .

Peppers, Rocks and the Beginning of Fall - Things are Wrapping Up

Hello everyone. It's time for the Fall Equinox, so I'm looking back at Summer, and ahead to Fall and Winter. I'm actually fairly happy with how things have gone, although there certainly are aspect in my life that could stand serious improvement. Still, we had a pretty good Summer, not too horribly hot until those last days of the State Fair, and our Autumn is looking to be wonderfully colorful. I'll be driving around on Wednesday taking photos if the day is clear. If not, than hopefully Friday will be a clear one. 

My pepper harvest from Sept 22nd (there are a few 
cherry tomatoes in there too. Look at the size of those 
Jalapenos! LOL

I harvested the three largest jalapeno peppers yesterday, and all of the red, orange and true yellow Tabasco peppers. I still have quite a lot of peppers on that plant, and I'll let them ripen until frost, when I'll pull them and dry them. I sliced the jalapeno peppers into rings, and pulled the stems from the tabascos, put them into the dehydrator for a 12 hour cook at 125, which ended around 3:00 this morning. I checked on them about 4:30 am, pulled the dried jalapenos out of there, and reset the dehydrator for another 12 hours on 125 to (hopefully) finish out the tabascos. I guess it's time for me to find a good food grinder if I can't use my mini food processor, because I want these to be powdered. 

The Jalapenos cut up and ready for my dehydrator. They 
don't look as large now, to be sure, but they usually dry 
up beautifully and I'm really looking forward to grinding 
them up and using them in my chili and stews over the 
winter. 

Of course, me being a klutz (and somewhat stupid sometimes), I forgot to wash my hands after cutting up the peppers, and I rubbed my nose. OUCH! It took more than an hour for the irritation to calm down. Time and Vaseline did the trick, and hopefully I won't be that stupid again. *sigh* I know better, my brain was six steps ahead and not paying attention to what I was doing. 

My Tabasco peppers don't look quite as 
impressive, but they pack a punch. They're 
super spicy and wonderful. When I checked 
after 12 hours, these guys were only half 
done, so there's still in the dehydrator for 
another 12 hours. I'll check them when I 
get home from work tonight, and maybe 
they'll need more dehydration before they're 
ready to be put into my jar. It's hard to say. 
It would be faster if I cut them open, but I 
really didn't want to be bothered, truth be told. 

I also made my sheet pan fajitas yesterday, and that recipe is definitely a winner for me. It's so damned easy and tastes fantastic. I'm finally starting to use up some of the more unusual spices in my cabinet, and that also makes me quite pleased. So I'm set for meals for a while. I have the fajitas, and I still have two portions of tomato and pepper soup from Wednesday. I think DH might grill steaks tomorrow (if it's not raining). If it is raining, I'll use the broiler in the oven. Either way, we're having steak for dinner tomorrow night. 

I'm NOT buying any slabs tomorrow, I quite literally have no 
more room for any rough stone. I really need to get working 
on making pretty things with the stones that I have, and I 
have some scrumptious stone in my drawer. 

And tomorrow is also the day we'll go to the Gem and Mineral Show, which is always a treat. We'll skip Renaissance Fest this weekend (that will make two days that we skipped this year, but we're still fine on actual price per day for our season tickets). We'll relax, we'll look at pretty rocks, and we'll enjoy a lazy Sunday. Next weekend is the final weekend of Fest, and we'll definitely be there for that. We never miss an opening or a closing weekend. That's important - LOL. 

MN Renaissance Festival is a bit magical itself - and I 
do love going there. But I'm just as happy to not spend 
all day there too, especially when it gets colder. Over 
the years, we've stopped going from opening to closing, 
and have just relaxed into walking the circuit, catching 
up with friends who own or work for businesses there, 
and enjoying the outdoors for a few hours, before 
calling it an early day and returning home for drinks 
on the patio. I guess we're getting older - LOL. 

So I hope all of you, my readers, have a wonderful weekend and I plan on being back again with you on Monday. Whatever you're doing on this First Day of Autumn, make it count. Do something for a friend, help a child or an elder, rescue a puppy, whatever - do something positive in your little corner of the world. We all need positives in our lives, and good things radiate outward to affect others in a good way as well. Slava Ukraini. 

Autumn is Creeping In on Tip Toes, But I'm Not Ready Yet

I'm ahead of schedule today, on a very busy day, but not because I was really good at setting my alarm. Rather, I awakened a bit after 2:00 am and simply couldn't fall back to sleep. So, I got an hour's jump on my day. All things totaled, that's not a horrible thing. I'll actually be able to sleep in a bit longer than usual on Sunday since we won't be going to Renaissance Festival,. We'll be going to the MN Gem and Mineral Show instead. 

We always look forward to the MN Gem and Mineral Show. The 
new State Fairgrounds location has been a great shift for them.  
The number of people attending the show has gone up a LOT. 
One of the vendors dropped into the shop yesterday for a few 
supplies and said that it's been a great move for them - much 
more room for each vendor, and a LOT more customers. 

This time of the year is always a more difficult adjustment for me than any other seasonal changeover. We're moving into Autumn now, and Winter is knocking at the door. I'm NOT ready for that at all. The garden looks sparse in sections because DH has been transplanting a variety of plants to new locations for next Spring, and because the colder temperatures are slowly causing the plants to either go dormant or die back. 

At this time of the year, our growing season is coming to 
an end. My tomato plants aren't getting as many ripe tomatoes, 
and those that are unripened might well remain unripe. 
We still gets lots of sun, but the temperatures are colder - 
enough that we're skirting with frost. I expect we'll have 
our first frost before too long and that will be the end 
of this year's crop. 

My tomato crop this year actually ripened at a sustainable rate - I didn't feel completely overwhelmed by the amount of tomatoes I was getting. I did dehydrate a small batch just to see how it would go (it worked beautifully), and I'll use those in cooking later this season. But my plants are slowing down. I have several Jalapeno peppers trying their best to ripen before the frost, and they might make it. But they probably won't be quite as red as those I got earlier in the year. I have a bunch of Tabasco peppers on that plant waiting to ripen a bit more, so I'll have a lot of peppers to dehydrate from that plant. My banana peppers are pretty much done for the season. 

At this point of the year, most of my Tabasco peppers 
are yellow or orange. Still, these peppers can be 
harvested at any point, so I'll leave them to ripen 
as much as possible, then harvest them and dry them. 
They'll grind up beautifully for my winter chili and 
soup recipes. 

The hummingbirds have almost all left for the season. There are a few still hanging around, and of course I keep the feeder full for them. But, I'm not getting the crowds. The males left almost a month ago, and the females and young ones are leaving now. They have a LONG flight down to Costa Rica, and I'm looking forward to seeing them again in the Spring. I'll keep the feeder stocked for them until after we get a few hard frosts, of course. But that won't be much longer. 

I'm up in the yellow portion, shading into the green. We 
start seeing our hummingbirds start their migration a 
month ago when the males leave. Now the females and 
this year's crop of yearlings are also leaving for their 
long flight through the USA and down to Costa Rica. 
Not all of them will go that far South, but not all of 
them come this far North either - LOL. 

So Autumn is creeping in. Autumn is one of our most spectacular visual seasons here in the Frozen Northlands. The exceptional range of colors we get from our trees and other greenery as they move into their winter naps is always spectacular. I expect that next weekend's drive to and from the final weekend of Fest will be a gorgeous visual treat to end our Festival year with. 

So, I'm off to the pool. Have a lovely Wednesday and Slava Ukraini. I'll be back tomorrow. 

Autumn Is Here - MN Gem & Mineral Show and Corn Mazes

We're totally into Autumn weather now and the leaves are starting to turn. It was a beautiful drive out to Renaissance Festival on Sunday, and it should be even better in two weeks when we go out there for the final day. We're probably skipping this coming Sunday to attend the annual Minnesota Gem & Mineral Show at the State Fairgrounds instead. We always enjoy that show. In past years (since they moved to the Fairgrounds) it has been held in October. This year they've moved it up to the last week of September which will be much warmer for their outdoor vendors (at least, under ideal conditions). 

This will be the third, or maybe the fourth, year that the 
MN Gem and Mineral Show has been held at the State 
Fairgrounds. They take over the Dairy Building for their 
exhibition hall, and use the open space south of that for 
their outdoor vendors, of which there are always 20 or so. 

Today isn't quite as cold as it has been, I'll actually be heading out to the swimming pool in 63F temps instead of mid-50's. I'm always grateful for the warmer temps at this time of the year. I'll hold onto the end of summer for as long as I can. But Autumn is in the air - I need my quilt for sleeping, I've switched to my winter pajamas, and actually, it's really comfortable sleeping weather. In another six weeks or so, we'll have our first snows, maybe even sooner (hopefully not). 

It's apple picking time. Several of the larger family farms 
are open at this time of the year for apple picking, hay 
rides, and sometimes corn mazes. My younger nieces will 
sometimes get together and go out with the kids for a 
family outing. 

Thoughts of Autumn hay rides, pumpkin carving, and Fall food treats are uppermost in the minds of many. Apple harvest it in full swing, with the "First Kiss" apples DH so dearly loves already come and gone in the stores. I love to cook with apples, but I'm not fond of just eating them raw. My baked pears, however, have been delightful. 

I DON'T go into corn mazes. I don't do mazes at all. I'm 
absolutely NO good in mazes of any type. I get totally 
lost and off my directional sense. But, up here, corn mazes 
and other Autumn family activities such as hayrides, are 
big business. Even though we had a delayed growing 
season this year, I'm sure the corn is high enough to be 
a good maze. 

Chickie was supposed to meet with her doctor yesterday for a pain assessment and diet/weight loss plan. She needs back surgery to remove extra calcium build-up from her spine that is causing her a lot of pain. She can't have the surgery until she's lost X amount of weight, though. Yesterday's appointment was supposed to give her medications that would help her to lose some pounds, as well as tell her more about the actual surgery they will need to do. DH isn't happy about this all around. Without Chickie at the shop, it might make for another major delay in getting closed. We'll see what happens, though. I'll know a lot more when I get a chance to find out how her appointment went when we speak later today. 

Basically, this is one of the things causing so much pain 
for Chickie. She has several bone spurs in her spine that 
are impacting her movement and causing her a great 
deal of pain. But the doctors can't deal with these until 
she's lost some weight, so step one is to focus on that. 

So, that's all the news I've got - LOL. I'm heading out to the pool for some seriously necessary exercise. I always feel a bit like a slug in these months - I'm not really doing as much exercise as I should. Thank goodness for the swimming pool. Just the thought of being in the water is a motivator. Have a wonderful Tuesday and I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini. 

A Bit of This and A Bit of That - Thoughts for a Monday Morning

I'm a bit crunched for time today because I took time to respond to all of the lovely comments and positive wishes sent my way on my anniversary. DH and I had a lovely dinner, although he wasn't super happy with his steak. I figure that's fine because he gave the other half of his leftover meat to me for meals this week, so I made out like a bandit. It did start a discussion between us of where we might like to try in future, and he might buy some steaks to make on the grill before it gets too cold. 

We haven't used the grill at all this summer. No real good 
reason why, it just hasn't been used. But, DH wants to 
do steaks at least once before the Fall season comes streaming 
in and it gets too cold and blustery. We don't have long before 
we have to return everything back into the storage shed for the 
Winter, so we'll probably get some steaks grilled within 
the next three weeks. 

Sunday we were out at Renaissance Festival. It was quite a bit colder, but I dressed appropriately and was actually quite comfortable for the day. That surprised me a bit, because I chill easily out there. We stayed until about 2:00 pm and then left. I noticed that the parking lot was quite a bit more crowded, as were the Festival grounds. My reasoning for this is that the State Fair is now over, so people are looking for the other Fall activities that they do. We'll probably skip Fest this coming Sunday to attend the MN Gem and Mineral Show, and then, the 1st of October will be the final day of Fest this year. We'll be there for that, without doubt. 

I generally use a 110 sunblock for my 
head, but I forgot to pack my tube. DH 
had some 45 that I used, and it seemed to 
be enough to keep me from burning. I also 
used my parasol, of course. It's why I carry one. 

I wasn't really packed well for yesterday. DH was in a bit of a hurry, and I forgot my sun block and then I left my driver's license in the car. DH had a lower level of sun block that he gave to me, and I just decided I would live without an alcoholic beverage, which worked out just fine. But still - I know better than to go to Fest without my sun block. I did use my parasol, of course, but sun block in an outdoor venue is just common sense, especially because I want to avoid degradation of my tattoo. 

It's the end of the summer, and moving firmly into the 
Autumn season (one of my favorite seasons because it's 
so very pretty up here). Winter still is distant, but it's 
approaching the door. Time to start preparing for it. 

Once we returned home, we sat in the garden for a while, relaxing in the shade. DH has been pulling up and transplanting a lot of the garden, preparing for next Spring. It looks quite desolate in places, but that's the way it has to be in Autumn. It's the latter half of September and Winter is coming closer and closer. We don't want to be trying to do this when the weather is cold and horrid. It's quite bad enough to rake the leaves in the cold. 

Have an excellent Monday and I'll be back tomorrow. 

So, I'm wrapping this up and moving along with my day. It was a lovely weekend all around, and hopefully our good moods will carry over into the work day. I can hope, at least - LOL. Have an excellent Monday and I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini. 

August is Slipping Away!

Good morning and Happy Monday. It's the start of a new week, and on Sunday, we'll be at the Renaissance Festival for opening weekend. DH and I worked on the house yesterday, he had a bug up his ass to clean the craft room. As usual, my loom was an item of contention, but I returned it to the place it had resided before I had started to work on it again, and it seems happy there. I'm not 100% pleased to have it off my work desk, but it does allow me to clean and put away the materials that have gathered there since I put the loom up more than two years ago. (It's a VERY slow project!). 

I try to be very conscious about keeping trash minimal 
and recycling as much as possible. I know I'm not as 
good as many people, but I'm pretty consistent. 

I cut up a bunch of boxes. It's a good thing this is a recycling pickup week because I'll JUST (maybe) have room for my kitchen recycling bag to go into the bin before wheeling it to the curb on Wednesday morning. This week I have to concentrate on two things - working on the website for DH, and getting Sharon's room habitable once again. I doubt she'd like to share her bed with my Mom's dresses and their rack, so those need to get moved. 

Although I do the traditional "Spring Cleaning", the end 
of summer "Fall Cleaning" that I do is always my major 
annual clean. In part it's because Sharon is visiting and 
I want a clean house for a guest, but I also like having a 
clean house every now and again before we mess it all 
up again. 

I have a bit of time before Sharon gets here. I've done a lot of cleaning, but there's still quite a bit more that should be done. Some people do Spring Cleaning. I do some, of course. The dirt of winter needs to be pushed out of the house, and I do. But my major clean is always my Fall Cleaning for when Sharon comes to visit. It's my opportunity to do a deep clean on my house, and I take full advantage of it. 

Zahn McClarnon, Hunkpapa Sioux, plays the main 
character, Joe Leaphorn, in "Dark Winds". He's a 
good looking man, and an excellent actor, but he's 
not Navajo. He just looks wrong for the part. Those 
of you familiar with "Longmire" may recognize 
him from that. 

DH and I finished the night off by watching an episode of "Lewis" and then "Dark Winds". DH and I both enjoy Tony Hillerman books - DH is a bit obsessed, rather like I am with Tolkien. I hadn't watched the show before. DH was complaining about having a Lakota as the star - acting as a Navajo, and I admit, I have to agree. That's just really poor casting. They film the show in the Four Corners area, and I guarantee there would have been several excellent Navajo actors who could have played that role. Instead, they're all over the nation with tribes. The main character is Lakota, the secondary sidekick character is Kiowa. At least they have a lot of Navajo extras, and it was a lot of fun to hear the Navajo language again. It's a unique language, extremely complex and difficult to learn, which, when combined with their complex kinship system, sets the Navajo aside and apart from any other tribes. 

So, it was a relatively good day. I know we'll be regretting going to Renaissance on Sunday when we would much rather stay home, have a nice breakfast, and continue housecleaning. We'll see, but I suspect we'll be heading to Ren. It's tradition, LOL. Have an excellent Monday and I'll be back tomorrow. 

It's Definitely Autumn - Time For Thoughts of Autumns Past

I'm running a little late today, so this may be a bit shorter than usual. Still, I'm here, I did my run this morning, and I took a bit of extra time to set up the portable clothing rack I had purchased from Amazon and hang my Mother's evening gowns onto it. The next stage in the photography and sale of these clothes will come with tacking a sheet up for a backdrop. Working in the spare bedroom is never comfortable in the winter - it gets the least heat of any room in the house. But, I do want to continue working on the project. I don't have a deadline, but it would be nice to progress - baby steps notwithstanding. 

Progress isn't measured by time, but by action. I made 
one more step towards my goal of fixing and selling 
my Mother's gowns this morning by setting up the 
portable clothing rack and getting them hung on it. 
Now that they're not being crowded in the coat closet, 
I can concentrate on photographing and listing them for
sale on Ebay or Etsy.   

DH and I actually had a relaxing Sunday. It was quite windy, so raking leaves, despite the (relatively) nice temperatures and full sunshine, just wasn't a possibility. I think the wind finally managed to get almost all of our leaves down, though, so DH will probably get started on raking the leaves this week. We need to get them off the lawn before the snowfall comes, and the later we get into the season, the more difficult that will be to accomplish. It's a hella-lot of work to get our leaves taken care of, and the gutters will need to be cleaned once more too. The gutters are pretty easy - a precursor for when DH will need to rake the roof after every snowfall. But when there's moisture that has frozen in them, the gutters are much more difficult. Hauling the leaves over to our compost pile is much easier with two of us but still takes a lot of trips back and forth from the upper back yard to the farthest corner of the front yard near the drainage ditch. 

Although this is NOT my yard, it looks pretty much like 
what my yard looks like right now. Fall leaves everywhere. 
In my yard, after yesterday's windy day, my trees are now 
almost completely bare. The fallen leaves are exactly 
like what you're seeing here, though. A carpet of golden 
leaves just waiting to be raked. 

Obviously we didn't get any gutter guards installed - yet. He's mulling it over, and we'll probably get some within the year. The quotation is good for a year, so we have that in our favor. We rarely jump on things as quickly as sales people would like. Even with Minion, I went back and forth to the car dealership several times and measured, then measured again. I double-checked all of the specs, made sure it would totally meet my needs, and then, finally, bought her. She's been a great car to have, and I've never regretted that purchase. So sometimes we just move slowly - but we end up with exactly what we wanted. 

I have a 2015 Mazda CX-5 and I love it. I loved it so much, 
that when Chickie needed a new car, she got a 2014 version 
of the same car. So we BOTH love our cars. I'd get another one 
in a flash - it's been extremely dependable and very easy 
to operate. Before we had the truck, Minion was our truck 
and performed the job well. I have about 65,000 miles on 
her now, so expect her to last several more years before I 
need to look at a replacement. 

The only exception we've ever made to the "check it out and then check it several more times" unspoken rule is with appliances. When the refrigerator died, we were there buying a new one immediately, even though we couldn't get exactly what we ideally wanted. We had to settle, because life just isn't good without a refrigerator. It was still several days before the installation could happen, and we were living with dry ice and lot of ice cubes in coolers for several miserable days. The oven replacement, on the other hand, took months because that was extremely size specific and we could live without an oven. Still, I'm quite happy with our new oven, and I'm getting quite comfortable with it. 

This year I'll be able to make a Thanksgiving 
turkey on time in our oven. Last year we didn't 
get our replacement oven until closer to 
Christmas, so we had turkey, but our true 
Thanksgiving turkey was a dinner out. It was 
good, but it didn't give us that lovely smell that 
we associate with Thanksgiving throughout my 
house. I've been getting used to my new oven and 
I like it. It's a delight to have a functional broiler 
once again. 

So sometimes taking some time before choosing a product or device isn't a bad thing. Some things need to be replaced immediately (when the upstairs TV died, DH had a new one installed before the day was ended). Other things can take much longer (we've needed new windows for two decades. Maybe next year). But through it all, life goes on. The sun rises and sets, people are happy or sad, and the Great Wheel turns, never-ending, in the dance of the Universe. May you find your place within the Great Dance and have a wonderful day. Slava Ukraini. 

Good Samhain To All - Stepping Into The New Season

Good Samhain and Happy Halloween to all of my readers. I'm festooned in a shirt of spider webs with two silver spider pins, one spider earring, and my glass spider for jewelry (and a touch of gold, because what spider can resist gold?) LOL. I have a good book on my phone, tasks awaiting me at the shop, and the envelopes for my Holiday Cards are underway. I'll try to get another 20 of those done this morning, with the final 20 tomorrow morning. The ink takes time to dry on these and I can't leave them sitting out to dry while I'm helping customers. 

My spiderweb shirt is quite similar to this one, with 
mesh spiderwebs for the sleeves and along the yoke 
of the shirt. I'm wearing a grey sweater turtleneck 
underneath so the webs show up nicely. With my 
spider jewelry, I'm totally honoring Grandmother 
Spider today. 

Once I've finished decorating the envelopes, I'll put together my final mailing list and start printing them for mailing. If things go according to schedule, I'll have them in the mail around Thanksgiving. We'll see. There's still a fair amount of work to be done. But these cards aren't as labor intensive as last year's were. I needed to back off a little bit this year, 

The bonfires of Samhain are sacred and cleansing. Often 
the animals would be led between two bonfires to 
allow their participation in this event. We are a step 
closer to Winter Solstice now, and the Season of Hunger 
will soon be upon us. It's time to cleanse the soul with 
the fire, reflect upon the year, and celebrate the 
harvest with loved ones. 

Samhain is the end of Autumn and the start of Winter. The harvest is now in, the slaughter of the last of the animals for winter stores will happen shortly, and the tribes will start pulling together, ready to share warmth and resources for the bitter season ahead. It's not deep winter, we haven't even hit Winter Solstice yet, but Samhain is the classroom "five minute" bell - the one that you have to pay attention to. The cold is coming, and the season of starvation lies ahead. The season of reflection begins now and continues until Imbolc when the first stirrings of Spring begin. 

To everything there is a season, and Autumn is a season 
of reflection and preparation. We are now setting our 
feet on the beginnings of the season of cold and it is 
time to celebrate life with the harvest, and prepare for the 
months of need ahead of us. 

As we enter this season of reflection, remember that the focus is two-fold. Inner reflection for your own benefit - analyze and understand yourself and your own place in the world with greater clarity. And outer reflection - how is the outer world going to interact with you? What impact will it have upon your daily life and how can you attempt to improve the greater good? For many of you that will focus on the choices facing you this election day, which happens to be tomorrow. 

No two people will see the same thing. Everything you 
see is filtered by your mind and experiences. Your life 
is unique to you, and although you can share it, no-one 
else can live it for you. 

DH will head to the polls, shaking his head. He said to me "It's one of the few times in my life I'm voting Democrat" with disgust in his voice. I'm delighted, as a life-long Democrat. But everyone must vote their own conscience. I'm relieved that I voted more than a month ago. I don't have to try and get my vote in, then run to the shop to open on time. I've done my duty and maybe ... maybe ... we might get a few weeks of respite from the never-ending political advertisements and platforms. 

Once again, Good Samhain to all. I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini.