Yesterday Was a Bit of a Cluster Mess - I Persevered

I had a nice, but very busy day yesterday. I did a lot of cooking, and while moving between the stovetop and the oven, I noticed a few of the small sugar ants that are the bane of my existence. So I killed them. Then, I noticed more in a slightly different place down that wall. Once again I brought death to them, and continued cooking. Then again, farther down. By the end of the day, I had sprayed and killed the damned things completely down the eastern wall of my kitchen. After I killed everything and didn't see any more movement at all, I swept things down thoroughly and did what I could to wash the floor. Note to self ... buy more Swiffer wet cloth packs. I used the last ones on this job. 

I truly hate these little sugar ants. They're a pest, not 
necessarily destructive, but they have to be in one of my 
walls for me to have seen them the three places I've seen 
them over the past few weeks. I did a MAJOR kill yesterday 
in my kitchen. I automatically kill them whenever I come 
across them these days. Afterward, I cleaned and washed 
the floors and the kitchen hasn't looked so good in months. LOL

So, while I was busy with the laundry and the decimation of tiny ants in my house, the time when I would usually talk with Aearwen came and went. I ended up calling her almost an hour late and leaving her a message. She, in turn, texted me later on again, apologizing on her part for missing our weekly chat. I guess life got in the way for both of us. But, we've been chatting weekly for years now, missing one or two happens and life will return to normal once again soon. 

Aearwen and I have chatted weekly for years now. Occasionally 
life gets in the way, and I guess yesterday was one of those 
days. Things happen. We'll catch up next week instead, and 
it'll be a lovely hour of this and that. 

So I guess I'm ready to jump back into the fray today. I did have a chance to make a batch of Ogre Juice yesterday, and I'm switching eating it from lunchtime down to breakfast time. All too often these days I don't have any time for lunch, and we've had no refrigerator at the shop because we've been defrosting it. (It's one of the items we're listing as "For Sale" in our inventory, and it desperately needed defrosting and a thorough cleaning). I don't mind eating my Ogre Juice for breakfast, but I can tell that my body is not happy about a lack of the green stuff, so I'll figure out a way to get it back into my daily schedule once again. 

We have an old Frigidaire refrigerator at the shop, 
similar to this. The city will pick it up at no charge 
and pay us $50, but we'll have to show that it's 
operational, and it has to be at a residence, not 
a business. So, we'll be putting this heavy sucker 
into the truck and plugging it into the garage 
at home to get the rebate and get rid of the appliance. 

On that note, I guess I've rambled off enough. A quick book recommendation if you want something totally quirky and off the track. Try the "Magic After Midlife Series" by Deborah Wilde. It's been a total joy reading about this Jewish magic user who speaks in Yiddish as often as English. It's a great character and a fun series - a good find for my NookBook file. Enjoy your Thursday, I'm off to the swimming pool. 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's Going to be a Busy Housework/Cleaning Day Today

So, after yesterday's attempt to post, we'll see if I'm more successful today. *sigh* Yesterday was my wedding anniversary - married in the dark ages in front of a fire with a cold cave behind and winter approaching. Well ... the only accurate thing is that winter is approaching, but the marriage did happen 46 years ago. We were young, foolish, and walking into an unknown future which turned out very different than either of us had envisioned. 

Today's agenda includes some major housecleaning, getting bills paid, and hitting the computer room for a deep clean. I'm looking for a particular book that I believe is buried in the stacks, so it's as good an excuse as any to do a Fall cleaning. I haven't hit this room for quite a while. 

Sometimes I think it would have been so much better if 
both of us weren't packrats. We're not as bad as some - 
we're not hoarders, but we do tend to accumulate things. 

Of course, it's also a swimming day and a grocery shopping day. I have two salmon fillets that have to be cooked, so I'll dash through that too, but the most important thing will be finding this book. 

I have two salmon fillets that need to be cooked, 
so that's on today's agenda. I don't need to do any 
other major kitchen work until Friday, so it'll be 
a bit lighter and leave me plenty of time to hunt 
for that book that I need. 

Yesterday was our anniversary, as I mentioned above. DH did get me two cards - very nice ones. I got him nothing. We'll celebrate at Ren Fest this weekend, and hopefully have nice weather for it. I have to get an email out to Merlin's wife regarding my scarf. I've added a note to the small stack of bills to be paid today, just so I don't forget to get that out to her. 

Lady of the Lake Silks is Merlin's wife's business, and she's 
extremely successful and very talented. The scarf I'm ordering 
ranges from Black on one edge to White on the opposite edge, 
ranging through the entire rainbow as it progresses through. 

So, I'm going to wrap this up, and hopefully it won't end up in cyberspace hell like yesterday's post did. *sigh* I hope you have a wonderful Wednesday and I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini. 

A Clean House and a Stocked Refrigerator - Goals Accomplished

Yesterday was my "Clean Up After Sharon's Visit" day. I also needed to spend some serious time in the kitchen - I was completely out of "Ogre Juice" as well as all of my baked fruit. First, of course, I needed to do some grocery shopping. I also had to drop by Target for a watermelon (DH had insisted that I get it at Target, and I was fine with that). It's the first time in a long time I've walked out of Target with only a single item, but I really didn't need anything else. 

Watermelon is usually very sweet, but the last one I bought 
and the last one that DH bought were a bit disappointing. 
This one, however, turned out great! Sweet and easy to 
get cut and put into the refrigerator. 

I chose my veggies, caught up with friends at the grocery store, and then headed home for a day in the kitchen. Several hours later I had dinner ready, four portions of "Ogre Juice" in the refrigerator, and 16 containers of baked fruit in there also, ready for my breakfasts. I also stripped and cleaned Sharon's room and got everything put away and the linens laundered. That didn't count the three normal loads of laundry that I always do on Wednesdays. So, by the time I settled down to chat with Aearwen, I was tired - LOL. I had a lovely chat with her, and then got dinner made and into the oven. I was slicing the last of the avocado when DH walked through the door. 

Maine Coon kittens grow into Main Coon cats - and they're 
big! A full-grown female can weigh up to 12 pounds, and 
the males can weigh up to 22 pounds! Sharon and her sister 
got her two from the pound as kittens, and they were $50 each! 
That's a steal of a deal for this breed which can often go for 
more than $1000. 

It was absolutely wonderful having Sharon here for a few days. It's always work to get her room set up for her, and then to take it back down again, but it's absolutely worth it. Sharing "girl time" with my best friend of more than fifty-five years is always a treat. And I got to hear all about her kitties (she has two Maine Coon "kitties" that she and her sister adopted from the animal shelter a year or two ago. Furry monsters is what they are - LOL. BIG kitties. 

I still have to wash the bathroom floors,. but generally, I can 
say that my house is back to normal once again. I'm pleased, 
it was a very productive day off. Now to get back to the shop 
and do some catch-up work there. 

So today I'm settling into a "normal" day once again. My refrigerator is stocked - no more empty shelves, the linen closet is also stocked with clean linen. The spare bedroom is once again more of a miscellaneous room, and the house is once again mine. That's what I needed for a bookend to my State Fair experience for this year. Now I can progress along my road and see what surprises await me today when I'm back at work. Have an excellent Thursday, I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini! 

Sharon Arrives Tomorrow! Whoot!

Sharon arrives tomorrow, and the house is almost clean. I'll be washing the bathroom and kitchen floors today, and there's a bit of dusting that still needs to be done, but I'm basically ready for my "bestie" to come for her annual visit. We'll start out at Red Lobster on our way from the airport to the house. The next day (Friday) will be our first day at the Fair, and it's a day that's just for Sharon and I. We'll have a lovely steak dinner at Mancini's that night and then collapse. LOL

Sharon will arrive late tomorrow and I can't wait to see 
her again. We'll have SO much fun - so much to talk 
about, so many things to look at, so many things to munch 
on - LOL. 

On Saturday, Sharon and I will start the day at the Fair, and we'll be joined by James (and often also by Chickie) for the evening. That's when we'll walk the Midway and do other more night-oriented activities. Sunday is the full day for all four of us to gather together. We'll hit most of the buildings because DH won't have seen much of anything. It'll be a repeat for some of us, but that's OK. Sharon always starts her Sunday off at Mass in the Fairgrounds, and then we gather at the Fine Arts building to look at all of the artwork for the year. Some really amazing things to see in that building. Then we'll wander wherever DH wants to go because it's really his only day at the Fair. 

On Sunday morning at 9:00 am, Sharon will be in Baldwin 
Park on the Fairgrounds, attending Catholic Mass. She never 
misses it. Father Fitzpatrick, a retired priest, has led the Mass 
for more than a decade now. As soon as Mass lets out, we'll 
all meed across the street from the park at the Fine Arts 
building to look at the art exhibition before anything else. 
No food or beverages are allowed inside the Fine Arts 
building, so breakfast will be after art - LOL. . 

On Monday we'll all meet up again at the Renaissance Festival. I still need to pick up tickets for Chickie and Sharon. I'll try to get that done today. We'll wander into every booth, get dusty (or damp, depending on the weather). We'll say "Hi" to friends there, share hugs and kitty photos, and in general, I hope, we'll have a lovely last day for Sharon's visit. On Tuesday morning, I'll drop her off at the airport on my way to the shop and life will pick back up where it left off. 

It's hard to believe that I took this photo of our outdoor 
pool just before Memorial Day (end of May). The summer 
has just flown past in so many ways. The State Fair 
always marks the end of the Summer and beginning of 
Autumn to those of us living up here. Time to start 
thinking about Fall and Winter. I doubt we'll have the mild 
winter that we had last year again. It's highly unlikely. 

Tomorrow will be my last day for outdoor swimming. I'm missing it already. I do love the length of the Olympic-sized pool. I'm certainly no speed demon, however. I'm more the "slow and steady wins the race" kind of a gal. LOL Have an excellent Wednesday and I'll be back tomorrow morning to check in one last time before going on radio silence until Tuesday next week (or maybe even Wednesday, depending on schedules). Enjoy your Wednesday. Slava Ukraini. 

Housekeeping and the MN State Fair (of Course)

I'm not the best housekeeper in the world, but I do like a clean house. Unfortunately, my crazy schedule usually doesn't allow for a deep clean. Until Sharon is due for her annual visit. Then I up the stakes and do a deep clean of the house - dusting, vacuuming, and polishing; putting things away and straightening, and of course doing the basics like making her bed and making sure her TV and DVD player are functioning properly. I give myself three days to accomplish this. Just cleaning my wall of dragons takes several hours. It's all worth it, though. I get a clean house, and my best friend of 25 years doesn't run screaming when she sees the mess - LOL. 

There are more than 80 new foods available at the MN State 
Fair this year. As I recall, there weren't very many that I was 
curious about, and there are probably none that will meet my 
dietary standards. I'm used to that. I don't stick to eating ALL 
the proper things, but I choose my foods carefully. 

I'm almost finished with this year's cleaning. I have a list on the refrigerator door reminding me to wash the kitchen floor and the two bathroom floors on Wednesday. That's the last of the cleanup. The house already looks MUCH better, I'm much happier (although I'm exhausted by the end of my cleaning days), and I'll be totally ready to hit the State Fair. 

Chickie was one of these people - people who were at the 
"Great Minnesota Get-Together" on opening day. She always 
takes that day as a vacation day and does the Fair solo. I 
totally understand. It's rather like Sharon and I having our 
solo day together - we see exactly what we want to see, 
and go exactly where we want to go. Things tend to be 
quite different when DH enters the mix. 

Speaking of which, I don't have Friday's attendance numbers yet, but opening day wasn't a record - we had a lot of people at the Fair (137,148 people to be exact), but it wasn't a record. Last year's opening day DID set a record of 138,875. We'll have to see how we do for other days. The total attendance record for the full twelve days is 2,126,551, set in 2019. I was there for that Fair, as was Sharon; and DH, and Chickie. We all love the Fair. 

These are our State Fair mascots - Fairborne and his uncle 
Fairchild (Fairborne is in blue, Fairchild is in green). 
They're gophers, of course. We live in the Gopher state, 
and the football team for the University of Minnesota are 
called the Gophers. It's Minnesota history - LOL - on foot. 

Chickie was one of the 137.148 people who were there on opening day. She ate this and that, wandered to and fro, and generally had a wonderful time. She sent lots of pictures and comments from her phone, and tried some different foods. Sharon and I will be wandering with her on Sunday, and maybe on Saturday night. We'll all meet up again at the Renaissance Festival for Labor Day Monday, and I'll drop Sharon back at the airport on Tuesday morning on my way to work. 

This photo was of the crowd assembled waiting for the 
East gate to open. This gate was the one I always used when I
lived across the street from the Fairgrounds). Some people 
stayed here 24 hours wanting to be through the gates as one 
of the first people into this year's State Fair. 

So, Sharon will arrive on Thursday. Her visit always marks the end of Summer and beginning of Autumn in my mind. It'll mark the end of the warm days and beginning of the cold ones. I'm SO not ready for winter! LOL 

Rather than deal with impossible parking in the area, we 
always take the free transportation busses from our area. It's 
so convenient, it's free, and it's only a mess (sometimes) when 
busses are delayed for the homeward journey. Still, it's well 
worth it. Once they instituted Park & Ride, a lot of traffic 
was eliminated. 

Anyway, I'm almost through my list of things to make sure are done before Sharon arrives, and I'm actually on track. Washing three floors will be a breeze. I hope all of you have a wonderful weekend. I'm already looking forward to my Sunday. I have a pork roast to cook - one of my favorite meals. DH is considering doing Ren Fest, and we could do it if we left immediately after the singing. I'm leaving the choice up to him. Have an excellent Saturday and I'll be back on Monday. Slava Ukraini. 

It Was a Busy "Day Off" and the MN State Fair Opens Today!

I got a lot done yesterday, bur there's still a lot to do. The upstairs is complete except for dusting my dragons. The mid-level is almost complete, a bathroom scrub just before Sharon arrives is all that's needed. And I'll tackle the bottom level tomorrow. Today is the first day of the "Great Minnesota Get-Together" aka the State Fair. Chickie always is at the Fairgrounds for first day and she'll be posting to us throughout the day as she wanders and tries this or that food. 

Opening day at the State Fair - there are people who camp 
outside the gates overnight just to be one of the first let 
into the Fairgrounds. Chickie always attends on first day and 
I look forward to her periodic reports throughout the day. 

I got a lot cleaned up yesterday and still have a bunch remaining. But I'll do what I can do. DH bought a watermelon yesterday and I've got to spend time cutting that up tonight. I don't mind - I'm pretty fast at it. But still, a whole watermelon does take a bit of time. 

DH bought another whole watermelon. Now I 
just have to find a few minutes to get it cut 
up and into the refrigerator. It's sitting on the 
kitchen counter until tonight, when I'll get 
that done. He's been pretty good about getting 
tasty ones, hopefully this one will be great. 

I wanted to finish up at least one of the pictures I need to glass in, so worked on the smaller one yesterday. I'm not happy with the mat. It's perfect from right to left, but on the top/bottom, the top left is 1/8" off and the bottom right is also 1/8" off. I'll need to cut a new mat for it before I mount it, put it into the frame, and call it finished. 

I really thought I'd have one piece of completed art 
to bring back to the shop. But no ... I'm not happy with 
my interior mat. I think now that I've adjusted the blades 
better, it'll be an easy re-do, but it's still a re-do on 
something I thought was complete. *sigh*

So, I'm declaring the top level of the house complete (except for dusting my dragons), and most of the main level also complete. That leaves me with the lower level remaining, and that's not horrible. I'll have a clean house before Sharon arrives, guaranteed. So, let's see if photos will work for my blog today. Have an excellent Thursday and I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini. 

Photos Aren't Working for my Computer Today - Sorry - Text Only

I awakened early. Now, for me early is 2:30 am on a day when my alarm was set for 3:00 am. For most of you, those times are ridiculous. LOL But ... I awakened early which is giving me a bit of time to get this posted before heading over to the pool. We're approaching the end of the outdoor pool season, and I'll truly miss it. We've actually had excellent weather this year (so far ... Mother Nature could always give us a cloudy, rainy morning before Labor Day). The pool hasn't been overcrowded except for one day, and I love having that extra length. But, I like the indoor pool too. I suppose that's lucky since I'm in that pool for nine months out of the year. 

Yesterday's swim was a bit of a slog, though. I don't like being captured by my own thoughts while swimming. I don't count laps, I don't work on cadence. I prefer to listen to my latest audio book while swimming. It makes the laps go by easily for me. But yesterday, my headphones (which I thought I had recharged over the weekend) actually were very low on power, and more than half of my laps were silent. ARGH. That was total stupidity on my part. I had them plugged in to charge, but didn't have the computer turned on. Duh! They can't recharge without power. 

Today I'm back up and running after allowing them to upcharge overnight. I can lose myself in the story instead of in my strokes. I'll be much happier. I'm no speed demon in the water, but I can fall into a story and run on automatic mode for my 45 minutes. It's all good. 

DH bought a pork roast for Sunday (just in case we don't go to Ren Fest). I wasn't actually planning to go to Ren anyway, we had originally agreed to only attend three times this year and I'm totally fine with that. I'll leave things up to him. The pork roast is one of our favorite meals, so either way I'll be completely happy. 

So, I'm off to the pool. I hope you all have an excellent Wednesday. I'll be doing my usual laundry, and a LOT of housecleaning today. I have three days available to clean before Sharon arrives, and I don't need pristine, but a good dusting and vacuuming is necessary, and the bathrooms need a solid scrub. I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini. 

It Wasn't a Bad Day Off and Check Out My Ristra Peppers!

I didn't get as much accomplished as I had wanted yesterday, but I'm still considering the day to have been a success. At this time of the year, I rarely get to everything on my "to do" list. I did pick up and assemble the frame for a piece I've been working on, I still have a minor re-do before I can cut the glass and call this one done. I'll try to get to that tomorrow. 

Just look at this gorgeous ristra pepper. It's 
turning gloriously red. I can hardly wait for 
the others to change as well. 

I had a bunch of green and yellow beans that we've harvested just crying out for cooking, so I grabbed a bit of time and got that done. They're FABULOUS! And, I took photos of my Ristra peppers to share. The one monster is turning gloriously red. 

I'm so proud of my ristra pepper. I wasn't sure if 
they would have enough summer up here to turn 
red, but I finally am getting the color I need. 

I didn't get any of the housecleaning done, that's mostly on Friday's agenda. But generally, I consider that yesterday was a good day and I got a lot of things done. I need to keep on track, the month is slipping/rushing by all too quickly and Sharon's visit is approaching. She won't mind a messy house - it's really just horrid in the computer room. Her room is just fine, her bathroom will be fine - I'll move my stuff into the upstairs bathroom for the few days she's visiting us, which will give her a bathroom of her own. I'm always scrubbing the shower, so that's not much of an issue either ... yeah, it's just general cleanup, a good vacuum, and getting my dragons dusted and preening once again. 

I need to pull out the gloves and the housecleaning supplies 
and tackle the house. I also need to vacuum - I have very few 
bare floors - I prefer carpeting. So, my next week will be 
filled with home maintenance - LOL. 

Reading the above, I guess I have a serious clean ahead of me for tomorrow - LOL. That's fine - it needs doing anyway and I'm pretty experienced at it after all this time. 

Swimming Day, Trash Day, and Photos of the Ren Fest Fire

It's a swimming day, and a trash collection day, and a laundry and housecleaning day and, and, and - it's Wednesday. Rather typical. There's a lot that I need to get done today - the house looks like a hurricane hit it and Sharon arrives in two weeks. I have to get things cleaned up before she arrives. She won't run away screaming - she knows better. But ... I like having a cleaner house when she arrives. I'm not asking for absolute white-glove clean, but I need to tidy, vacuum, dust, etc. 

I'm starting to run out of summer. 
It's already mid-August and I still 
have a lot to do before Sharon arrives 
for the State Fair. I can hardly wait! 

Renaissance Fest begins this weekend. DH and I have agreed that we will go for opening and closing days and once with Sharon and Chickie. So three times this year. We might decide to show up on another day, but we don't feel obligated to do so. I'm curious to see what burned down and what was erected to replace the burned out shops. We had a lightning strike fire over the winter that destroyed yet another part of our Fest grounds. This is the third time (or maybe even the fourth) where lightning has caused part of our Festival grounds to burn down. The shops are completely empty over the off-season, but it's still a blow for the shop owners. 

An overhead view of the Renaissance Festival fire from 
earlier this year. It was a lightning fire, but it burned quite 
a few buildings before they were able to get it quelled. 

I have my State Fair Blue Ribbon Bargain Books purchased, my State Fair tickets are also purchased, my Ren Fest parking passes are purchased, I guess I'm set for the next few weeks of excitement. Now to get going on my house, continue working on getting the shop ready to close by the end of May, and I really need a deep clean of the computer room. I can easily go through my closet and dump quite a few things that are WAY too big for me, and although I know there's carpet underneath, if I can't clear out some of my dresser drawers, I'll never know it. *sigh* I fully admit I'm not a great housekeeper. I keep a very clean kitchen and living room area, but my study/computer room is a bit of a disaster, and that's my closet and drawers area too. Oh well, it is what it is. All of my efforts this year were focused on my health and on getting the store ready for shut-down. We're running five months late on shut down, but at least my health is excellent. That's a total win - LOL. 

Looking outward from the fire zone. The central building 
had roof damage, but I think it might have escaped the 
worst. There's a swath of shops that totally burnt to the 
ground, however. 

So, have an excellent Wednesday. I'm off to the pool. We'll be outdoors for another two weeks, and I plan on taking advantage of it. Today will probably be crowded, but yesterday was lovely - only a single person sharing my lane. I know I won't get that lucky two days in a row. I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini. 

Tools and Software - A Busy Weekend Moving Into a Busy Monday

Happy Monday to all. After my run this morning, I grabbed my point driver and set about anchoring the small kachina paintings I've been framing into their frames. I cut the glass on Saturday, so I was ready to finish things up. EXCEPT ... *sigh* ... the Framedriver tool I'm using doesn't have enough power to penetrate the frame. *sigh* I'm picking up my next frame on Wednesday. I'll have to ask Rook if he has any suggestions for me. It might just need a tension adjustment, but I'd like to get the pieces finished and ready to sell. 

I know there is a tension adjustment knob at the back 
of the point driver. I may have to adjust that to get 
enough power for the points to insert into my frame. 

DH was in a "Clean this house" mood yesterday, and we did get a lot accomplished in the small bathroom as well as the living room. There's still a lot of clening remaining, but I feel better about Sharon's visit at month-end now. Of course when DH "helps", it often leads to more mess than had originally been there, but in the long run it's beneficial. 

We've been playing "Lord of the Rings Online" since the 
original Beta, so many, many years now. DH still plays 
regularly. I simply don't have the time to play these days. 
But, that doesn't mean I'm abandoning my characters. 
My world is being eliminated, so I had to move my 
characters over to a different world. That was accomplished 
yesterday afternoon. 

DH also spent most of yesterday getting characters moved from the "worlds" we had been playing in over to a different platform. The software company is eliminating several worlds from play at the end of the month (or maybe even a bit sooner), so we had to get our characters moved over. I haven't played LOTRO for quite a while, but DH still plays almost every day. But the transfer went fairly smoothly after some minor panic about our houses (we own several houses each, spread over Middle Earth). I think everything is now resolved, but I'll have to check later this week to make sure. 

So, I'm going to sit back, drink my tea, have a small breakfast, and head to the shop. I hope all of you have a great Monday and I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini. 

Shifting Into Housecleaning Mode - Sharon Arrives at the End of the Month!

It's Friday, which is great! I get a "day off" to clean house - Sharon arrives at the end of the month, and I want a clean shower room, clean bathrooms, a clean kitchen (which I'm always cleaning anyway), and I want to get her bedroom vacuumed and dusted. I won't set her bed up for another couple of weeks, but I can get the preliminary work done. 

It's time to get into gear for Sharon's visit. I don't want 
to be pushed into a corner with housecleaning, I'd rather 
take the necessary time and just leave the bathrooms for 
the final sprint. 

I have two small pieces in their frames, ready to get the glass installed and the backs put on. I think we brought some brown paper from the shop, and if we did, I can do the final backing also. That will leave putting on a hanger, and they're small enough that sawtooth hangers would be best. Those are easy to put on. 

For small artwork like these, any of the above 
hangers would be fine. I tend to choose the 
second one - the sawtooth - it's the easiest to put 
on and it's easy for the customer to use, also. I have 
to remember to get some clear bumpers at Dick 
Blick, too. I am out of bumpers. 

While I'm in that room, I also need to lube the treadmill. I do this once a month. When I first started, Jake taught me how to loosen the belt enough to get lube under it. And, of course, I screwed it up and he had to come back out and get things back together once again. I figured there should be an easier way to do things, and after a lot of computer surfing, I found a bar-style lubrication device. I put lube onto the velcro-like fabric, push the bar underneath the treadmill belt and the platform, move it up and down a little bit, then turn the treadmill on and let the belt self-lubricate. It doesn't put quite as much lubrication on as the standard method, so I try to do this once a month. 

I'm quite happy with the treadmill lubrication system 
I found on Amazon. I don't have to loosen the belt 
at all, and can still get it lubed efficiently. I do it more 
frequently because it's a much lesser amount of lube, 
but it's so easy, doing it once a month is not an 
issue. 

I also have to decide on a frame for a larger piece I finished matting this past week. I had this one done, but didn't like what I had, so I started again and I'm much happier now. If I have a chance, I'll take a quick drive up to see Rook at the framing place and get a frame chosen and in the works. I want something minimal for this piece. 

While I'm working in the kitchen today, I think 
I'll make another batch of pesto. I'm harvesting 
herbs today, and the basil is huge once again. Time 
to harvest and pulverize. I do love my vegan pesto. 

So, lots on my agenda today, not including a serious shop at the grocery store and making a new batch of "Ogre Juice" for next week's lunches. Of course, there's always housecleaning too. Sharon arrives at the end of the month, and I need the cobwebs taken down and the light allowed back into my home. LOL Have an excellent Friday and I'll be back on Saturday. Slava Ukraini. 

 

Oh Dear - Rips and Tears, But Bright Thoughts and Events Too

There's something a bit disconcerting when you pick up your bath towel to dry off after your shower and you feel it tear - just a little bit - under your fingers. *sigh* I could have added two bath towels to yesterday's Kohl's order for new sheets (which were also tearing apart - so much that I tossed the old set immediately into the garbage). But, having not realized my current bath towels were falling apart, I ended up spending 20 minutes or so trying to find reasonably priced bath towels in Chocolate Brown (I ended up with a color called Espresso, but close enough - LOL). Hopefully, within a week, I'll have new sheets for the bed and new towels for the bathroom. I don't know how old the sheets were, but the towels were purchased during the Covid shut-down because I remember ordering them on-line and they brought the package to my car and put it into the back of Minnion for me - no physical contact or shopping at all. 

You wouldn't think it would be difficult to find 
bath towels in a dark brown, but it was harder 
than I had planned. Finally I found these - they're 
calling the color "Espresso". *sigh* OK, whatever 
they want to call it, it's the right color and it was 
at the right price. They'll be shipped to me this week. 

I took about an hour yesterday to clean up my desk too. DH and I had started the day with a meeting at his brokerage with my account advisor (his advisor is dealing with health issues right now) and an attorney, discussing setting up a family trust. We're getting older, and we're trying to work out where our funds should go after we die. It's a subject that has always made DH uncomfortable, which means he's also a bit confrontational. But, we actually got through the meeting pretty well, I liked the attorney - we connected in several places that I considered important. So we'll probably sign the contract and have him work out a reasonable plan that will include the things each of us consider important (including my taking care of "Puppies and Kitties" which is DH's general term for all of my charitable contributions). 

I finally had a chance to meet MY broker yesterday. 
Janna is young, enthusiastic, knowledgeable, 
friendly and smart. She's also very tall - I'd say 
minimum of 5' 10", possibly taller. That whole 
family is tall - her brother played pro basketball 
for a few years before moving back to MN, 
joining the family at the brokerage, and settling 
down. 

The fact that the sheets were shredded (quite literally - a hole scraped into the bottom sheet and a strip pulling away down the side of the top sheet), made my third load of laundry almost nonexistent. I decided I could just add the pillow cases to my normal personal laundry load of Sunday, so I only had two loads yesterday, instead of three. That was awesome! LOL (These days, it's those little things that excite me.) 

My desk wasn't this bad, but I've got so many things 
that I'm dealing with right now, that it's way messier 
than I want. So I tried to get things straightened up, 
and tossed away things that were outdated or 
unnecessary. What a mess! It's better now, but still 
needs some taming. 

I finished the afternoon with a lovely conversation with Aearwen. This is a tough time of the year for her, so if you know her, send some positive thoughts over her direction (West - California to be specific). We all have those times when memories crowd in and try to take over. This is one of those times for her, so I'm sending out lots of positives to her for the next two-three weeks, and I know many of you will join me in that. 

Sending lots of positive thoughts Aearwen's way, but 
I'm sure others of my on-line friends could also use 
a bit of a boost. So ... Positive Energies being 
sent to EVERYONE! (Well ... I might make an exception
for the idiot in the White House.) 

Except for that, it was a boring day. I can TOTALLY get behind a boring day - LOL. I did a bit of cooking, but saved quite a lot for Friday. I'll be VERY busy in the kitchen on Friday with pork chops and a pork roast needing to be cooked. Yum - I'm hungry already - LOL. I'm always grateful that I wasn't raised Kosher, I dearly love pork products ... ummmmmmm ... bacon! Have an excellent Thursday and I'll be back tomorrow. Be kind, be strong and be you! Slava Ukraini. 

Here, There and a Clean(er) Desk - It Was an Accomplished Day

Yesterday I started out at 7:00 am at the Radiology center to apologize to Dr Zach for having missed the meeting that had suddenly cropped up on my "My Chart" app. Fortunately, we both determined it had been a glitch in the system and it was just thoroughly enjoyable to see him again. I'm actually looking forward to my radiation therapy (which starts on Wednesday) because I'll get a chance to see him. I think I'm a bit homesick for my New Mexican deserts and high plateaus. 

Dr Zachary Wilson is in charge of my radiation 
therapy. I really like him a lot. As I mentioned 
earlier in the week, he's a New Mexican boy 
who moved up here and, like me, enjoys being 
in the waters of Minnesota. I feel quite confident 
in the care I'll get from him. That's good, because 
I'll be seeing him for fifteen weekdays in a row, 
starting on Wednesday morning. 

I then went to the Breast Center to give Emily an update, but she doesn't work on Friday. That was also just fine, so I pulled my car out of the parking ramp (wasn't even charged, it was such a short visit), and headed back home. I had a quick breakfast and started working on my desk. 

My desk wasn't QUITE this bad, but it wasn't good 
either. Although it is better now, it still needs some work. 
But, I'm going to try and go into the shop today. It'll be 
my first day at work since my surgery, and I really need 
to be sure I can work a full day so that Chickie can 
have Monday and Tuesday off next week. 

Note, I said working ON my desk, not AT my desk. My desk was overflowing with paperwork from this, that and the other thing, and notes from DH about things I needed to do, etc. I dove into the pile, and was quite happy by the end of the day when the mountains had been tames to mild foothills. It's not 100% the way I want it quite yet, but there are some pending things that have to be available, so they're front and center where they have to be. 

Very little in cyber space is truly deleted, but I have thousands 
of older emails that need to be eliminated to streamline my 
three email addresses which are active daily. So, I decided to 
do some cleanup yesterday. It was quite satisfying. I'm not 
finished yet, but I've got a good start on the main account. 

I then started catching up on emails. I've been trying to go through my emails, clear out old ones that I don't need/want any more and streamline things a bit. It's a lot of work, and a lot of deleting. I did it for one of the company emails a few weeks ago and have been quite happy with the results, now I started the other company email address - the main one. It's a lot of work, but it's getting done chops and slices at a time. There is something satisfying about deleting 100+ emails at a single swoop again and again. At least it allows me to feel as if I'm getting somewhere. LOL 

I'm glad I actually gained a small amount of weight 
yesterday. I don't have any problem being in this range 
right now, but really don't want to get a whole lot 
lighter. 

And, on the good news front, I'm actually up 1/2 pound today. I had that "stew" for lunch, and the other half of a pork chop for dinner along with a small salad. I'm pleased. It's not a major accomplishment, but I'm still happy about it. So .... today I'm trying my first day at the shop. I'm hoping I can work without problems so that Chickie can take Monday and Tuesday off, giving her three days in a row to rest up and recuperate from the intense work schedule she's pitched in and worked. I'll have to check my budget, she definitely deserves something special for all of the extra work, and I can't guarantee I'll be back fully at any time just yet. Have a great weekend. I'm going to drink my tea, check a couple of things, have breakfast, and then wander to the shop. I'll be back on Monday. Good Ramadan to those of my friends who might be Muslim, and Slava Ukraini.