Daily Notes- Friday November 12th. It's Raining...It's Pouring!!!!

 I read Hazel Monte's blog  Handstories.typepad.com every day.   I love the little pictures (stories) she creates in cloth scraps.  And then adds personality with thread.  Her Moons and Little Boats sail away in my imagination. this digital magazine contains an interview with Hazel.

It's Raining and it's Pouring outside today.  We were supposed to also suffer thru high winds and power losses.  I was not wanting that.  Never a good thing as Maine Power is iffy at the Best of Times.  Hardly any lines are underground.  And tree branch trimming is done by the lowest possible bidder- with the least amount of thought or skill.  Winter is not a happy time.  Thanksgiving Day is PRIME for a power outage.

I have started the day with a very long conversation about relatives with daughter.  Then a shower. Then breakfast which I might have to call "Brunch" as it was colliding with the lunch hour.  It was still just oatmeal.  And now it's nearly 1pm.  The Sports Guys don't get going until 2 pm.  

Husband caught another mouse.  I had seen mouse droppings nearby days ago. Mentioned them. Could have been in the house all along.  Just not getting caught in a trap until last night. Or there is an entry point we don't know about.  He was caught where the second mouse got caught alive.  Husband says he won't tell me about them if I am going to be upset.  But I'd rather know it's been caught and dead. This one was dead.

My book for today- with the rain- is a YA-- To all the boys I've loved before.  by Jenny Han. I haven't started it yet so no idea if it's good or not. I girl writes letters to all her old boyfriends- private letters she never intends to send.  She pours out her heart. They accidentally get mailed. The book I am going to read is about what happens after the letters are received by the boys she has loved.

I'll let you know what I think of the book.

Last night I watched a Hallmark Movie on Lifetime.  I am puzzled.  Do they make the movies twice?  Once very strict, no kissing no touching, no sexy and then...as sort of an "out take"- all touchy and sexy for Lifetime? this one is about a guy who turns his house into a Gingerbread House for the Holidays.  I've seen this guy on Hallmark-- Travis Winkle something.  He acts like women's lips have cooties.  In this movie on Lifetime, he was finding it difficult to keep his mouth/hands off the girl.  Seriously seductive behavior and the girl was pushing him away.  Which is totally expected on Lifetime which dotes on serial killers and rapists.

Quite a few of my favorite Christmas Movies are on Lifetime.  And ALL have Hallmark actors and actresses. And all are seriously weird and very sexy.  I also watched two Hallmark movies on Hallmark and such awkward-ness.   Was painful.

Daily Notes- November 10th. It must have rained overnight. Still no acorns.

 So NOT getting into a canoe. EVER  This image from a senior magazine that arrived yesterday in the mail.

I have some important things to do today- same list as yesterday and the day before.  I only did one- I paid my credit card bill.  I haven't done any laundry.  I did dust the floor.  With my Swiffer. Which I love. I had Halloween candy after eating my oatmeal.  Hell in a Hand Basket around here lately.

I think I finally got myself back to normal, sleep wise, since the day before my teeth cleaning when I got ZERO sleep.  It took three nights.  Hard to make up for lost sleep. When you get OLD.

We are having Sunday's Football Pizza today.  Somehow it seemed like too much trouble every afternoon. We could wait till tomorrow and have Thursday Night Football Pizza??? That's the way I am rolling in November, I guess.  Started a good book but then set it aside.  Looked at a few cloth projects- and set them aside.  Was looking for my mask templates--I seem to always lose them--I should paste them to the wall or the inside of the closet door.  I'll do that as soon as I hit print.  I want to make a Christmas Mask.  Holiday Fabric.  I wanted one last year........but made masks for daughter and not one for me.

I did start taping recipes to the inside of the kitchen cabinet doors.  If I make it-- tape it.

I use Scotch Tape.  Easy enough to reorganize as to preference with Scotch Tape. 

Watched a Christmas movie on Hallmark- I had seen it in years past but the kissing and standing close to each other seemed genuine. Like the people might actually enjoying being together.  They even did a decent job of dancing together and made eye contact.  Didn't get the "ick" I usually get when actors in Hallmark actually touch each other. And no one had curling iron hair.  That should be a Bingo clue, Dee. Curling Iron Hair.  Looks Incredibly Stupid the way they do it. Sausage Hair.

Reading:  Once and For All by Sarah Dessen.  Another YA book.  Recommended by a librarian. The lead character is 18 and graduating from high school.  Two possible guys.  One in college who was mesmerized by the tape dispenser in the office (the wedding planner was begged to give him a job) and kept pushing the button to dispense tape and the other the brother of a bride making her 4th or 5th trip to the altar. The brother goes missing all the time.  And there is a dark horse- a Groomsman at the wedding in progress as I am reading.  The writing is very good.  The characters seem realistic. So far the plot has dragged. One and a half pages of the tape dispenser.......It must have something to do with the plot but.....sigh.  The Groomsman is the "one who broke her heart" I think.  I have no idea what I will be doing today.  Reading. Sports TV.  Pizza Making. Laundry and the Washing Machine Pages.  Or none of them.

And the interest in Odel Beckman.  And the Patriots.  Gag.

Daily Notes- November 9th. It's raining leaves today.

 Large and in my face.  I applied a stick on dust cloth to my handle thing and dusted the hallway and the kitchen dining room.  Then I squirted a bleach cleaning product- that I use to remove color from cloth--to the sink and scrubbed like no one had ever cleaned the sink before.  It looks as clean as a 1986 stainless sink can look.  House built that year- I moved in in December of 1991. Third owner. Built to last forever. 

The electric stove is hopeless. No amount of "elbow grease" can get it completely clean.  So, it gets a thoughtful and caring wipe down every so often. The Football Pizza baking is so high heat it burns up any crusty bits.  The pizza stone stays in the oven 24//365

I sewed a few bits of scrap fabric to 9 little rectangles in the past few days.  Would make decent bookmarks. But right now my bookmark is a 10 inch strip of painted white cotton.  I painted it.  It's really lovely. Faded blues with some yellow.  Looks old, worn out but it's just new cloth painted.  

My Master Gardner Classmate attended Wallace's funeral service.  Endless stories were told.  Wallace is leaving a large hole in the Space Time Continuum.  My friend told me all the stories over the phone.  Each person who knew Wallace knew a different Wallace.  That was clear from hearing the stories.  My Wallace was quiet, unsure, easily made uncomfortable but with a sly, edgy scene of humor.. We had quiet conversation about plants.  His partner/husband and I had loud laugh filled conversations that made Wallace uncomfortable.  After his husband died, Wallace didn't know what to do with me.  So...we ended up smiling, asking how each was doing and letting that be enough.  Both missing his husband. And the loud surprise of his laughter.

My Classmate invited me to go to a restaurant with her- she listed several she had been to lately.  I regretfully declined.  She got upset.  And well....she's had COVID twice.  It's enough I went to her house and ate soup.  And another time ate pizza out on her deck. And sat out on my back deck in 25 degree freezing cold to have a one hour chat. We had large cups of steaming sweet tea. I am not eating in a restaurant with everyone not wearing a mask.  Not in Maine where people refuse to get a shot and refuse to wear a mask.  We are 70% vaccinated in the entire State.  But in my Town that seems like wishful thinking. And the unmasked are such ASSHOLES.  They smirk and walk close.  I don't provide anything back to them.  I disappoint.  All they get from me is a dead on stare.  My store has a sign that all must be masked. But they do nothing to uphold that mandate.

Daily Notes- Dental Appointment

 Suddenly, every visit to the Magic Attic- another blue/green cloth AFTER all those early visits and not a damn thing.. That ATTIC is a demon sometimes. They are piling up and the board even gave way and fell flat on it's face-- saying- STOP!!!!!  ENOUGH of this same color cloth- use it already.

Dental Appointment.  My Teeth Are Clean.  The weird thing on the back of my tooth was removed and it feels kind of sensitive...there. We don't know what it was.  Perhaps a petrified lemon drop. Stuck in place.  Refusing to dissolve.

Gone.

The Library was next on the visiting as husband read way into the evening...said "what a great book" so I had to go get more of that author.  Reading is a great exercise for his Brain Cells.  I got one book for myself.  I have quite a pile. And reading goes slowly these days due to the entertainment on the Sports show. On TV.  I don't quite understand it- the appeal--but it makes me laugh.  So. that's good.

There were some moments in yesterday's football games......gruesome in some cases (injuries) and just downright humiliating for the LA quarterback.  Stafford.  He kept throwing "pick sixes" to the opposing team players. Right to them.  They didn't have to move or jump or anything.  Just stand there and wait for the ball.  And it never stopped.  I think he even was asking the coach to take him out of the game.  He might be broken as they say.  And might not be fixable.  I was sort of thinking about his mom watching the game.  Got kinda teary eyed.  It was a hard thing to watch.

Today is Wallace's funeral.  At the big church next to Bowdoin College.  There will be a huge crowd and many speakers.  I learned years ago not to attend these things.  Sobbing like an idiot thru the entire thing...it's unpleasant for everyone.  I can cry here at home.  I cried- sobbed- through Beverly's funeral.  that was the last time I went to one.  My heart was well and truly broken that day. Wallace would be the same.

Daily Notes- November 7th- Fall Back an Hour Day.

 It's a sunny but chilly day.  I set back the clocks I can do manually.  Like the microwave.  When I was making my Daily Oatmeal.  Daughter dropped off her overwintering tender perennials.  The third or fourth year they have Wintered in my upstairs bathtub.  Like Seniors going to Florida.

I got her to carry the three IKEA (circa 1982) outdoor chairs into the Attic.  They are heavy.  Now we won't see her for awhile...puts her off the Parental Units when she has to carry heavy stuff up into the Attic.  Feels we should be asking a guy to do it.  We don't have a "guy". We have a "girl".

I began the day with a shower.  Nice and hot.  So I feel pretty good.  I do have laundry to do.  And I do have the dentist tomorrow cleaning my teeth.  Neither of those two things is anything I want to  think about. so..I am reading the newest Helen Hoang (Heart Principal) and we have one character recovering from cancer surgery and another just discovering she is on the Autism spectrum.  One third in and not much is happening other than the guy from the Bride Test is making margaritas for his tattooed  relatives and has a new fire pit in the back yard.  Author gives us in depth descriptions of the full body tattoos in every book. So I am transitioning.  The girls in the last book had tattoos--and the guys had them also.

I did some baking.  Did I mention it yesterday?  Anyway, I baked an old fashioned family recipe for Apple Cake.  I used the apples I was given after my haircut.  They are quite tasty.  And the cake is very good. My  husband cut himself a tiny slice and then filled his dessert plate with purchased snacks.  I had a good sized rectangle. I may just wrap and freeze the majority of the cake.  As usual, he prefers purchased food and not home made food....but I wanted to use the apples.  So..it's on me.

Daily Notes- Saturday November 6th. Sunshine.

 Breakfast. Perhaps you could see me in the spoon's reflection.  I didn't realize the spoon held it's own image.   Monday- Dentist.  Already amping up the anxiety.  I add milk just before eating and after stirring the sugar into the oats.

Reading.  Yesterday (and today) Casey McQuiston's One Last Stop.  On the back cover: "A breathtaking love story, filled with heart, yearning and the most wonderful found family."   I'm thinking it has some linkage, in emotional journey, to House in the Cerulean Sea.  A woman is "stuck" on the Q train in Manhattan. She exists there due to some malfunction of the Time Space Continuum.  I have the last 25% to read.  I will NOT cheat and read the last few pages.  I will wait and see what happens. 

Our Library Selectors have chosen to add a considerable amount of ...well, I forget the letters needed LGBQ...something.  This book has girls falling in love with girls and guys falling in love with guys.  It's about romance and love and has little to do with the sex (though there is some) found in most romances.  

I have been reluctant to choose these books.  Feeling awkward about it.  But after three or four great books- it's a non factor.  Because the content and writing is so GOOD.  Thank you, Selectors.

I am thankful I chose, years ago, to use three blank Goodwill notebooks to use as a resource for the books I read.  My library gives borrowers a small ticket with dates and titles on checkout- sometimes only partial listing of authors.  So when I get home I paste the slips of paper into these notebooks and write a small 5 word accounting of what the book is about and add the author's name if it isn't on the printout.  I also note if I liked the book or not.  These days I also note when I re-read the books.  Because I do re-read books all the Time.  Visits with old friends.  My daughter found four brown kraft paper covered Japanese notebooks at Goodwill.  New notebooks.  Wider pages so I can easily do double pasted printouts.  

I started listing books in the notebooks I have in 2008.  Or before.  Notes in the first book includes lawyers so I might have had the book with me when my dad died.  I sort of thought I could pull him back again.  But, no. It's all there in the margins of the book.  Like an instagram photo of a my Life, his Death.

I went back, to find details for this post.  And it all came back to me.  So......... well, my coffee has gotten cold.  Need a fresh cup.  Thank you for being here....reading.  

Daily Notes- November 5th. Friday...Friday

 My bowl full of Sunshine and vitamin C.  Aren't they gorgeous?   Husband even added one to his evening dessert plate.  I worked on my desk top calendar.  I had not added any art to it for the first full week of  November days.  So I had "work" to do.   Then a call from Pharmacy about something.  Rather than try and do it by phone- I went in.  I had books to return and pickup at library and husband was getting worried about the shrinking stack of chicken dinners in the fridge.  It all got done.

I didn't mind waiting as there was a very very good looking guy sitting in the pharmacy waiting area with his phone.  ..he never looked up so I got to stare at him as I waited in line.  A WIN, for sure.  I definitely know what my "type" is-40 50 years too late but it doesn't matter...I never would have had the courage for it in any event. If I had had my phone with me- I would have taken his picture.

But I didn't.

More books to pick up at the library.  Some were unexpected as they are new releases and I assumed a long wait time.  A new one in the series by Helen Hoang.  The Bride Test took care of one brother and this book is about the older brother.  I am wondering if Helen will marry off the Kiss Quotient guy's sisters next. He has three possibly four of them.

I watched a recorded PBS program last night.  A very normal artist making very very strange art.   I wrote a name down but not sure it's him.  I'll do a bit of research...see if he has a book.  There was something he was doing with a  metal plate- for printing on the press.  I loved etching a plate and printing it when I was in college.  But he was doing something I hadn't even known could be done- painting with acid and drawing into the image.  I felt very sad about that.  I would have wanted to try it. But I didn't know it existed and perhaps it never had until this guy tried it?  Also 40 to 50 years too late. For me.

Daily Notes- November 4th. Haircut Day.

 I think this is supposed to be the most decadent bowl of onion soup Ever.  I'd like to order three, please.

Today was haircut day.  No one in the salon I go to wears a mask (but me).  And they aren't vaccinated.  But they do an excellent job cutting and coloring hair.  And they were a short run by foot from the greenhouse where I worked 10 plus years prior to the COVID pandemic.  So....convenient.  I take my chances. And today I was given a bag of apples.  From a tree that is growing on my hair cutter's new property by the ocean.  She says they make great applesauce, apple cake etc.  I like apple cake and have a very old family recipes.  So..happy with these free apples.

A Master Gardener friend has been on my mind for the past week or more.  Drifting in and out of my conscious thoughts. Visiting me. This morning...his obituary.  He died in a care facility way south of his home. Wallace..you made me laugh out loud...not an easy thing to do.  You were the dearest, sweetest most thoughtful man with a cutting wit and always the best dressed guy in a crowd.  But I know they are having the best party in Heaven right now.  Welcoming you!!!! 

And in the tv section of the newspaper- on FX the movie Yesterday is on today.  Where a guy gets hit by lightening and wakes up to find the Beatles never existed but he (alone) knows their entire playlist.  I have the TiVo set to record it.  And I intend to watch it continuously for the rest of my Life.. (or TiVo's life)  Such a Happy Movie.  And the Music is divine.

My Dental Tooth Cleaning appointment has been upgraded to Monday Morning.  

Sports Talk Show was excellent yesterday.  Quarterback Rogers- unvaccinated. Now positive for COVID Homapathic stuff instead. Girlfriend is a "hunter/gatherer" type and collects Vitamin D from the Sun...well, find out for yourself. Where she collects it.  Let's just say...Sports was a bit X rated yesterday afternoon but hilarious. Explains Roger's new hairstyle.

Daily Notes- November 3rd- Sunshine and Sadness

 This image is of a breaded slice of mozzarella cheese fried like a chicken cutlet.  I am amazed by this and would enjoy making it????  When all my teeth and gums are back to feeling "normal".  Not this week. Or next week.  I am having my teeth cleaned on Monday morning.  Whoop.

Husband and I emptied a few of the annual containers.  I am still shaking dirt off my shirt. We'll do the two larger ones...some other day.

My fingernails are very weak...I need to figure out what to be eating to get them back up to good condition.  Weak finger nails....any suggestions from my Peanut Gallery???

I read Soulmate Quotient three times yesterday.  Or once the day before and two times yesterday.  I need to buy that book.

Sadness because of Maine election results.  Always.   Reminders that Maine is RED.  Trump Red. And votes that way most of the time, but then shocks us every so often by going Deep Blue. Anyway. I am sad that they have voted YES to END THE CORRIDOR TO BRING  CLEAN ENERGY  from the Hydro Damns in Quebec.  Instead- Maine will pay for oil energy from Texas.  Dirty Oil and Coal.

Mostly they worried some of that Energy traveling thru Maine would go to Massachusetts.  Because Red Mainers do not like Massachusetts.  And Mainers LOVE having the power go out with any two inch snow storm or high winds.  Because the POWER DOES GO OUT ALL THE TIME here in Maine.

Anyway.  I live here.  And have to put up with this shit.

Daily Notes- November 2nd. Voting Day.

 I have this card nearby.  Because, we all need to be reminded that just being alive is pretty great.  And we should smile more and laugh out loud a few times a day.  

That's why I watch my Boston Sports talk show every afternoon (it's a radio show, primarily)-- so I can laugh.  Because these guys- all adult men-- are often more juvenile than adult. Yesterday they had a tape of Belichek saying it was "his fault and he takes the blame" and they recited different items that have occurred with the Patriots (or just ridiculous stuff) and then played the tape.  It's was pretty funny. And, like the quote up top-- we laughed a lot.

I watched some of the Chiefs/Giants game last night.  I wondered about the behavior.  It's seemed so VERY mean spirited.

Then I switched to a recorded program of the Chinese building a Winter Hotel and Sports/Skiing Resort in a big crumbling "full of water" hole in the Earth.  The recording began in 2012 and ended in 2018 or later. I hadn't meant to record it but I watched.  Impossible Builds.  The previous one I also accidentally recored was the tallest, thinnest skyscraper in New York City right in the middle of the city overlooking Central Park. I think I wrote about it a few weeks ago???  The program yesterday was...possible I guess because China has so many people and they are willing to still get down in a freezing cold mud filled hole in the Earth and do 20 hours of hard labor????  Day after day, year after year........

Today we are voting.  In person.  With masks on.  Like LIFE is NORMAL.  We have several weird referendums to vote on.  Where you vote No to say Yes.  Politics.  And...husband is in slow motion today...so we may be Voting and then rushing to the Dentist office.  Or Forgetting the voting and just rushing to the Dentist office.  It's noon.  He's still working on his breakfast.

I have been working on Fall Clean up of the plants etc. very slowly. Outside.  I worked on the compost bins yesterday. Tucked the overflowing squash plants back inside the compost bins.  To compost. They hardly bothered to make any squash.  There is a tomato plant still making tomatoes- I left that alone.  If I feel up to it after toothpick removal- I will gently pull the annual flowers from their containers and tuck them into the bins as well.  Sigh.  It looks like it will be raining by then.

Daily Notes- November First- The Sun is Shining.

 The October calendar.  Sideways.  Because...I am not invested in the trial and error of swinging the image so it's right side up.  It's enough that the TruGreen guy showed up...to the correct house..this morning and that I have an "newly scheduled" dental appointment tomorrow to have the small bit of toothpick removed from my gums. It's been a painful few days with that item imbedded there and...it hurts.   I called on Friday and the office was closed.  So...it's been a long weekend.

I also just paid three bills which husband has walked out to the roadside mailbox.  

I am going to sit quietly with my Sports shows on the tv and watch the large number of players get injured.  The Titan's Henry has a serious ankle injury and I think the Saint's quarterback has done something horrible to his ankle or his knee.  I hate to see them get injured.  Because...deep down...it's playing the game that they LOVE doing.  So, being injured has to be so so awful for them.  The Patriots won yesterday and Tampa Bay lost in the final minutes.  Brady is still our quarterback- so it was sad to see that happen- even though he doesn't play for New England.

Well, it's the couch, sports, warm comforting beverages to soothe my gum where it's "angry" and re-reading my book for the third or fourth Time in two days.  A great romance is even better the fourth time around.  The Soulmate Equation. And it keeps me from "worrying" the toothpick embedded in my gums.

Daily Notes- Happy Halloween

 Been saving this one for months, waiting for today's post.  Martha Stewart of course.  Long long time Readers of this blog might be reminded of the Spooky House I made from a cardboard box long ago.  This new taller, SMALLER Town House Spooky was considered by me- for making another one.  I still might.  I love the roof lines.  The center tower. But I didn't attempt it this October.  I was too blah to do much to anything.

We had mice back then- years and years ago- but mostly outside not inside-- so I made my pumpkin seed roof pieces from marbled Sculpty clay.  Baked them.  

I like everything about this Spooky Townhouse. I'm glad I saved it for you today.

The weekend has seemed Endless. And BORING.  Daughter has been thrifting at various Goodwill locations and I have a lovely stack of one dollar books on my reading shelf.  And a few 2 dollar ones as well. I have the Cloud Atlas that I read years ago.  Hardback.  Daughter also wants to read it.

I have my bag of Kit Kat bars to hand out if anyone comes by.  The Twins.  Grocery only had the milk chocolate ones.  No white or dark chocolate.  Which Husband and I would prefer eating.  I think the regular chocolate will be fine- if I put them in the freezer for a few hours.

I am considering Sunday Football Pizza.  Need to get a ball of dough out of the deep freeze and let it get started on thawing...with a bit of help from the microwave.  ( I got up out of my chair and took a dough ball out to thaw).  I think we play the Chargers today.  I could be wrong. But on the Sports show they ragged on about the Charger uniforms........men.  More like women than they know.

Tomorrow Tru Green is supposed to show up "somewhere" to do the free "sorry we f**ked up" lawn treatment.  No telling where that might happen.  99% sure it won't be on our lawn..but on some other street with a house number 12.

Daily Notes- Friday, October 29th- Sunshine

 Difficult day already.  Tru Green called.  Much, much discussion of EXACTLY where our house is located.  What color it is. The mailbox by the street with the very large street number on it. How many of the Five PAID for treatments have been made- to this address- ONE.  Well, that was news to them.....ONE made at the correct location.  I am left wondering who else got free fertilizing but said nothing??

If my next  door neighbor- very unfriendly, so this was in itself, an important moment- had not dropped off the TruGreen ticket- I wouldn't have even known we had missed the final treatment.  They have called to remind me they are arriving on Monday November 1st.  I suggested my husband sit in a lawn chair out there waving them onto the property.

I have two loads of laundry to do today.  I don't think I have two loads of writing for the Washing Machine Pages.  I will have to find something else to do while the machine goes about it's business.  But still be in the room.  I could wind floss onto paddles.

But actually what I think I want to do is sit quietly after taking a few Tylenol. My head hurts.  My teeth hurt.  My tongue hurts from "worrying" my teeth and from drinking way too hot coffee.  I burned my mouth and tongue on that gulp of coffee.

It's best I just sit quietly and do nothing.  But definitely take the Tylenol.

Daily Notes- October 28th. Slept well. TruGreen fertilized neighbor's yard--not mine.

 Another vintage French Chair.   The layout of the pictures in the book is strange- as this photo is a prime example.  What were they trying to tell the viewer???   Would have been better sans orchid.

Some logistic issues with the screen.  Either too wide or too narrow and then going to another page.

The woman I spoke to regarding the lawn treatment being done at the wrong address- was done with an English as a second language representative.  I think she may have actually been speaking to me from a call center- perhaps in India.  I find it difficult to interpret a sing song language- beautiful to listen to but hard to understand over the phone- I do fine in person- reading the person's facial expressions. Clues to verbal content.

I have books to pick up at the library.  Husband has asked for Dune.  But I am thinking it might be too much for him.  We'll see.  The screen here is doing many things while I type.  I had a problem starting out with the margins.  

So- sunshine today.  Lots of leaves down.  The annual containers have been "frosted" by over night freezing temps.  So....tons of outdoor work to be done. Tomorrow TruGreen might make a second visit. Or not...and I will ask for a refund of the 2021 fees.  Only one actual visit.

Sports isn't as entertaining now that they are discussing basketball and hockey.  I do not care about either and the content is repetitive and tedious.  There was a lively discussion of the Astro's much more blatant cheating in the first game- a greasy ponytail helping one pitcher with his suddenly much faster fast ball but the Braves seem oddly disinterested and discussion of Football trades- yawn..

So--library visit and then home again.  I have one load of washing to do and then some reading and perhaps a few edges sewn to one of the cloths hanging on the wall--waiting.  It might be Time for cloth-....... I continue to miss that old dog checking my work and resting his old body on my feet. Stitch and the dog- sort of went hand and body.  Tears come easily these days.

Daily Notes- October 27th- Another Cold Rainy Day.

 A stop to return and pick up a book at the library and a very quick check of the discards cart.....found a very large heavy book on French Vintage Decorating.  Loads of pictures.  I like the wall here.  Sort of a patchwork. 

I have a chair like this in the attic.  My dad redid the seat padding, springs and backing but I need to add the decorative fabric.  My dad taught himself to do all sorts of things.  He did a beautiful job and that old "side of the road chair" is looking very elegant.  Waiting for her fancy dress.

If I finish the chair and have it down here in the living room- I will have something to remind me of him- every day.  That's a Good Thing.

No mice.  Didn't get much sleep last night.  No idea why but perhaps too wound up regarding mice. I also have something stuck in the gums around one of my bottom teeth- I can't get it.

So, I am exhausted this morning.  A late visit to library and then grocery. Husband drove because it's raining. Grocery shopping on a Wednesday isn't the best day to shop.  Not as many people but not as many filled shelves either.  I had to buy half and half instead of coffee cream.  And it was the last pint of half and half.  I got a backup jar of instant coffee.  I just needed the "assurance" of a cup of coffee in November and December. 

I finally found Romaine lettuce with healthy green spines.  No BROWN.  No Sick Yellow spines. Delighted to think about a nice Romaine and Swiss cold sandwich.  With lots of mayo. Two additional spaghetti prepared dinner for husband.  We're good for 5 days.  Six if he'll eat the frozen chicken parm I got as a "test".  I should have looked for a bag of imported rice.  But wasn't on the list.  I go by the list.

Now...the Sports shows with the sound down- it annoys husband-- and possibly falling asleep??????

Daily Notes- Rain With Gusty Winds here in Maine. A Rain Bomb????

 Read Deb's comment on yesterday's post for a Reality Check.  OMG.   Anyway- husband and I worked (sort of) as a team and filled the holes where the old water lines connected to the old radiator system.  Entry points for mice.

The count was three dead and one alive.  Nothing this morning. And tons of stuff now in the recycle can or garbage.  It's incredible what accumulates in unused spaces.  Who actually needs 4 dozen empty washed jelly jars- no matter how cute they are with their little red and white checked lids.

But the petroleum mouse/rat killing foam- is also "not good" for humans with breathing issues or asthma.  We slept with windows open.  And husband managed to get the foam on his reading glasses and his best sweater and his plastic gloves...  I am actually quite good as an assistant.  I had clean up wipes, a trash container, a flashlight and other assorted things husband had no clue that he might need.  He didn't even do the one clean hand/one dirty hand thing you do with any messy job.

I watched a previously watched Christmas movie on Hallmark.  I passed on the new ones.  This was an oldie and was so weird... the next old one will be the Shoe Addict one.  She ends up in the past at different times with each pair of shoes.  There is actually a rom/com like this.  The woman in the book gets hit on the head and relives her life (several times) with different consequences. No shoes needed.

I missed out on all my afternoon sports talk shows.  No reading either.  I plan to do a better job today. Later in the evening I made a "toasted" cheese sandwich.  I was toasting bread- for toast- when I realized we had cheese (for the mouse traps) so I opened the toaster door and added cheese to the toast.  When it was all bubbly, I took the slices out, waited a bit and then layered on on the other to make the sandwich.

It was so much more wonderful than fried in the pan.  The cheese was all stretchy.  And it wasn't greasy. And I was in love with the toasted cheese sandwich.  Sigh.  Some days end better than they begin.

Daily Notes- October 25th- Cold with a Chance of MOUSE

 Well, here at the Daily Notes we are into Mouse Hunting.  Overnight the mouse took the trap with him or her to the exit point which I happened to find by moving things out from under the restaurant shelving by the back wall.  Next to the pipe that connects the hot water to the only remaining old baseboard radiators. the ones that run under the floor to ceiling windows.  There was the trap with the mouse caught by the leg. Lively.  Certainly not dead.  Of course husband dropped him about two feet from the entrance to the house again.  I think they live under the back deck but could be living in the crawl space.

I just saw the trap but when husband went down to get it- the live mouse was attached.  Husband is now filling in the space around the pipe with caulk.  Well, he will be.  He's gone off in the car again and I have no idea when he will actually return home.  He "over thought" the mouse trap.  Just a simple mouse trap was all we needed. Sigh.  Complicated is not something he needs these days.  Just finding his way home is complicated enough.

But at least we know where the mice are entering the house. I always thought it would be the crawl space.

I am low on blood sugar this morning.  Chugging down my coffee.  I stuffed and taped the remaining radiator holes in the floor as they all open to the crawl space and it's easy to squeeze into that area from the garage- husband helps by leaving the garage door open all day. And sometimes all night.

I have a book to finish reading and I WAS going to the library and grocery but- feeling dizzy isn't a great combo with driving and shopping.    My house if FILTHY.  There...I admit it.....  FILTHY.

Rather than clean all this crap- I wouldn't feel back about just loading the car and heading for Goodwill.

Daily Notes- Sunday October 24th- Chilly with Sunshine

 Late to writing here today.  The Football Game is early today and........yesterday we packed husband's dessert cakes into a sterile container with lid and set the mouse trap.  The mouse we caught over night was very big.  I am freaked out.  Just freaked out.

I am putting so many things into plastic, lidded containers.  Taking the fabric stored in the containers and stuffing it onto the Magic Attic shelves.  Just so icky thinking these rodents are living in the house.

We hadn't caught another mouse on the kitchen counter.  The larger second one was caught on a high shelf of the restaurant shelving where I keep my pots and pans.  Heavy stuff- cast iron etc.  And on one small section- husband's packaged cakes and cookies.  I had a bag of flour up there and we checked it very carefully for any holes chewed into the package.

Now we are watching the Patriots.  And that's about all I have to say.  

Well. I think there is a fly in the house also.

Daily Notes- October 23rd- A Cold and Damp Saturday

 On the wall.  I pin cloth to cloth and let them marinate on the wall.  This one started out not being very interesting but as the days and weeks have gone by (I don't think it's actually weeks) the combo has started to make sense to me.  Now, I am ready to sew on the four new border strips.   A few others are still in the thinking process.  Might need a pencil thin mitigating strip between two wider strips here.  Blue or purple blue.

I am not actually "making" anything.  I don't need any more potholders.  I don't need placemats.  I don't need quilts.  I could use ART.  But this isn't ART.  Well....I guess in could be......but my art is usually a bit more difficult to like.  And is rarely square.

Life Goes On.  The Red Sox lost spectacularly on Pay Per View last night.  They had ZERO. The other team had 5.  Now the Sports guys can go on and on about WHY.  We KNOW why.  Well, the chatter is that the Sox are really bad or that the Astros cheat.  Depends on where you are sitting.  Now the sports guys will talk about basketball and hockey and I will move on to Hallmark.  Less laughing for sure.  Football is so so demoralizing.  I miss Brady and the old Patriots.  Edelman. From Kent State in Ohio.

I could learn to knit. I did it once.  I liked it.  I never made anything- just a big rectangle and then took it apart and started over.  Many times.  The Process was enough.  I didn't need product.

I'm like that with almost everything.  I like the process/ the doing but not so much the finished items.

Husband has found a recipe for a creamy mushroom soup in a publication I left on the counter (I never learn).  Now he wants me to make it.  There is only a 25% chance he will like and eat what I make.  There is zero chance I will eat it.  There are many steps and techniques involved.  The photo makes me think seriously of brown lumpy paste.

I am not making it today.  I am reading.  Suddenly I have a number of books that need to be returned by Monday.  Need to get started.......

Daily Notes- October 22nd- Hello Beverly!!!

 This man has some appeal?  Okay. It was dumb.  Jean-Jullien  Would be fun to find in your lunchbox.

The sun is shining. My knees are letting me know they just had a birthday and they are OLD.  I think there is baseball tonight.  Red Sox.  The Team that loves to get to the very brink or edge of winning- and then they do their best to lose.  I watch the first 3 innings.  If I watch.  It's like watching paint dry. 

Basketball started.  OMG.  134 to 132?  Basketball has become a free throw contest.  BORING. 

We did watch the Cleveland Football Game last night.  We're from there.  Only nothing looked familiar.  There were a few broken down bridges that looked sort of like what we remembered.  We weren't around for the rejuvenation of Cleveland.  I am reminded of my time there and a kid getting on the Bus alone to go downtown was safe.  Then I remember when it was terrifying. And then I lived in Georgia. No Bus.

Now that my books have been read and the socks have been mended- all that is left for me- is a load of laundry and the Washing Machine Pages.  Two loads if I change the bed sheets.  Depends on how much material I have for the written page.  Not much happening.  I write all the exciting stuff here.  Laughing.

Beverly ..I love the Smart Wool socks also but I hate the top elastic.  It's too tight and leaves a deep dent in my ankles.  I haven't worn any heel holes in any of mine yet- but I have like 20 or 30 pairs.  So lots of pairs in rotation. The socks keep my feet nice and warm. When new- the used to be itchy. But I am "such a delicate flower" ...... as you are all aware.

Biggest concern- what candy to buy for Halloween.  As we get only two Tricker Treaters (the Twin boys) who didn't participate last October- the candy has to be something husband and I want to eat.  I think we have settled on Kit Kat Bars.  Would be perfect if they had a bagged set of the three chocolates- dark, regular, white.  I like dark- he likes white.  We could give the Twins the regular.  I bought Tootsie Pops last year and they were not kind to my teeth so I dropped off the almost full bag at the Twin's house. I think their parental units would prefer I toss the  extra candy.......... this year.  I could just buy apples.