Still getting my room squared away

It is a controlled mess.  Controlled because once I have sorted out all the contents in, say, a chest of drawers, I don't put anything else in there but what belongs.  I have one biggie yet to do, and that is the cart that holds all of the bits and tools for the knitting machines.  Worse yet, I caught the upholstery from the chair on the gate pegs and needles  of the knitting machine and bent them.  The needles I'll just replace, they get damaged pretty easily and I have spares.  But the gate pegs are tough to bend, and get them lined up so the carriage doesn't jam.  It makes me tired to think about it.

The weather has dramatically cooled down and it feels like fall now.  Unfortunately we have had brisk temps at night, but not frosty enough to change the trees to the brilliant reds and golds.  Maybe in the next few days.  Fall is my favorite time of year. 

Did I mention that I got an Amazon Echo?  I'm still finding things to do with it.  Last night I asked Alexa (think Siri) to play Mountain Lullaby by Larry Groce, and to my surprise it started right up; I haven't heard that song since my kids were wee babies, on a Disney record.  A record!  I tossed them all several years ago, along with the record player.  Anyway, she does some mundane stuff (like telling the time, date, weather) but also answers questions like who won the Kentucky derby last year?  Or what does bokeh mean?  Odd stuff.  It would be a great addition playing Trivial Pursuits, if anyone even plays that anymore.  She is a great alarm clock too, no fiddling with buttons, just tell Alexa what time, or how long, and she wakes me with a gentle chime; or a loud buzz, your choice.  Last night we did lullabies, and I fell straight to sleep on the second tune.  It is basically a toy for me, but I can see how big a help it would be for school-aged kids.  It will go straight to Wiki if you specify that, or play NPR with interviews, stories, and so on.  NO commercials.  You can buy interfacing connections so you can turn lights, TV, doors or whatever on and off.  The connections are pretty pricey, and they aren't too useful if, like us, you are home all day.  But I am thinking about the floodlights around the house, which aren't the greatest at sensing movement, and I want them on when I hear a cat fight or whatever, without going outside.

The election will be over soon and I am so very ready for that.  I don't know how we got on all the telephone lists for surveys, but we get at least 2 or 3 every day.  And after being polite for the first 25, now we just hang up as soon as they speak.  Or if no one is there and so it is a robo-call.  I want Hillary to win, and not that blowhard narcissistic madman.  Surely these latest revelations will put him in her dust, but then I missed when Reagan was elected.  The second time he carried every state except West Virginia, we were a lone blue spot in a sea of red.  So what do I know?

Thought for the day:  "I finally figured out what I want to be when I get older... YOUNGER."

What will I do on Halloween?

Here it is the 20th of Oct, and I am not making any plans to give out candy, etc.  Last year it was a nice night, no rain and not much wind.  We had about 50 kids, and some of the costumes were really imaginative.  But this year my heart just isn't in it.  Do I go ahead and "treat" (ho ho) it as just another year, or do I turn out the lights and stay inside?  I don't think there are many homes that do the old holiday things anymore.  I mean, when was the last time for holiday caroling?  Dancing round the Maypole?  Do kids even go to find Easter eggs?  Thankfully, fireworks are mostly the province of professionals on the 4th.  And in these parts, Thanksgiving is in the first week of deer hunting season, so a lot of wives celebrate with a shopping spree and turkey TV dinners while the guys go huntin'.  Christmas is mostly still the same, with big family and friends getting together for a dynamite dinner and family gossip (if you aren't there, they will talk about you). 

Anyway, Halloween.  My dentist says she is divided about whether she can in good conscience contribute to dental problems; and no, she didn't suggest giving toothbrushes to the kids.  But I have no problems with that, everyone knows the parents eat half of it.  Maybe more.  But it won't be the same.  Back when my friend was a kid, everyone went door-to-door, you went in the house, everyone tried to guess who you were, you got homemade candy, it was a jovial celebration.  Not anymore, even small towns like ours often stage parties for the kids to go to in lieu of trick or treating.  I guess eventually it will stop altogether.  I remember when my kids were little that we were advised to check out the candy before they ate any (yeah, right), and to throw away anything that wasn't in a sealed wrapper (yummm).  I'll probably do it this year, if the weather cooperates;  we have been giving candy for at least 20 years, I think. And as I sit there at the driveway with this massive bowl of all my favorite kinds of candy, I'll make sure it is all OK. 

I'll think it over during the next week.  Meanwhile, here is my T-shirt for the day:  "Photographer:  I shoot people and sometimes chop off their heads."

This is the end of book three

Several years ago I felt the need to find a way to backup these posts. I tried to just print each one as it was posted, but that was so unpleasing in making each post look similar, I gave up.  Then I read a post that recommended using Blog2Print.com and so I now have 2 volumes going back to Oct. 2004.  I planned to do this every October, but the instead volume 2 begins in Oct. 2013.  Now it is 3 years since that volume, so I plan on this post being the last one in the third printed book.  It isn't very costly, and the result is quite attractive, includes photos, covers, and a table of contents.  I will post a picture after it is done.  Won't that be exciting (not)!  But just think, 10 years of blog postings!  I know people whose marriage hasn't lasted that long.  Or even 3 years...  Maybe it is due to my compulsive trait, but if so, I don't give a damn.  I never think about who may be reading this, but my pageview counter says 28,500  give or take.  If I ever give this up for good, I'll post a final goodbye, so anyone reading regularly (a few now) will know there is no need to continue.  Meanwhile, read, comment, plagiarize, or quote, I'm easy. 

Quote for the day:  "It's not really Hoarding if you have Cool Stuff "

Bleakness

We are all feeling the worse for wear today.  C has a chills-and-fever thing going on; I am just incredibly tired (malaise), and Rachel has her door closed all day, so who knows?  I have been looking at ebay and naturally found three things that look pretty good.  But stingy me, I put in a somewhat higher bid with an auction sniper, it adds a little  something to the bidding watching.
I don't expect to win...

I am still grieving the loss of Maggie, she went downhill so fast (2 weeks or so).  We had her at the vet's office to remove a growth on her leg, and I think they would have noticed her illness then.  But there isn't much to regret, even a month ago she would have needed a lot of chemotherapy, and to be frank, I wouldn't have agreed to put her through that.  My chemo made me ill, and I understood why.  A dog would not have understood anything except that they felt bad. 

2016 will surely go down as a Bad Year.  Beginning with my husband's death in May, the death of my horse Willie in June, the water completely flooding into the lower level of the house following a rain storm in July, and now the passing of Maggie, I know they are not equally the same importance, but still they are all losses.  Being diagnosed as diabetic, having neuropathy, breaking a tooth, all kinds of little things that by themselves are trivial, but added to the rest I feel like I am wearing a big target on  my back.  2015 wasn't a great year either, with the death of my Uncle and then 10 weeks later my Aunt.  Seems like they were setting the stage for the later things. 

I am way too morbid to continue this.

Thought for the day:  "My glass is empty! Quick! Call Wine-one-one! "

We lost her today

Maggie, aka Magpie, our black and white Newfoundland, was put down tonight due to an aggressive cancer in all her lymph nodes.  She was only 9.

Missing her.