crafts – The Hermits' Rest

An oldster’s admission

What is one thing you can’t live without?

If I were younger, I’d say I couldn’t live without my phone. But Boomer Lady that I am, I assert that I can’t live without writing implements and paper. Sure, that may look like two things to you, but in my lexicon, “pen and paper” is a collective noun. Don’t argue with my brain. It’s getting old, too.

I especially like grid paper. Ooh. Forget that phone and random passport! (Photo from Pexels)

Ever since I figured out how to write and ditched giant pencils and oddly lined paper (which smelled very good). I owned lots and lots of paper and wrote many, many words on most of them (some were used to draw horses, trees, flowers, and cars).

I just love to write and always have. Nothing made me happier than an essay test or term paper assignment. I could write! Any subject would do! And I always journaled, wrote stories, and passed long notes among friends in school.

I remember my sixth-grade teacher confiscated a many-part note between me and John Zapp. She stifled a laugh when she realized we were writing about remote-control aircraft, not “do you like me, yes or no.” He and I spent the next year, along with other odd little gifted children, writing a newsletter for the seventh-grade class. Bonus: we got to run the machine that printed the purple ink that smelled so good. Mimeo machine?

Just ask Anita what we did in high school. We wrote stuff. Stories, multi-part humor notes, very long book reports, etc. I regret that I couldn’t be in journalism class because I had to sing all the time. A surprising number of those who were in that class ended up teachers, journalists, and the like.

Well, I didn’t know where that story was going. But anyway, I have been writing my whole life in all my jobs, and reluctantly switched to keyboards when I realized I typed faster than I wrote by hand. But in addition to my obsession with blogging, I still write by hand in my sticker-filled journals, take notes by hand in meetings, and have a huge collection of pens (between me and Kathleen, we could run a pen shop in our house).

I need my writing tools.

No excitement here at home today. It rained, and I discovered the newly spread dirt surrounding the house is very sticky. The clay is now on top. But the rainwater tanks are collecting away, which is exciting to me. Of course, I saw and heard birds today. All the sparrows are here!

I kept making bookmarks today. The kit makes a LOT of them. I’ll have holiday gifts for everyone at this rate. And who wouldn’t want an extremely sparkly bookmark??

Lovely memory in a lovely day

What’s a small moment from your past that you still think about years later?

I often think about my father, who was one of the people I loved most deeply in my life. The last time I saw him was after his 80th birthday party, and it was time to go home. I was the last one out of his apartment, so we had a brief moment of just us, something we always treasured. I hugged Dad really hard. Then I hugged him again and told him how much I loved him, and he reciprocated. I’m so glad I did that because I never saw him conscious again. His fatal car accident was just a few weeks later. But, I know we both were happy with each other.

As for today, it was my ideal autumn day, neither hot nor cold and neither too sunny nor too cloudy. I sat outside and watched birds, animals, and the backhoe for much of the day.

It was cool to see the Greater Yellowlegs and small sandpipers in the very dry pond.

The rainwater collection project is now ready for the pumps and filters. The tank behind the garage got all hooked up this morning and the drainage pipes connected. Any overflow from the tank will head out to the pond behind the house, which will probably be much fuller in those circumstances!

Everything is all covered back up except pipes for hooking up the equipment. Nonetheless, when it rains tomorrow, both tanks will catch the water. That’s a milestone.

The other drainage project at the house is in front, where the backhoe has been digging a swale for the past two evenings. It will direct water beside our driveway and into the front pond, rather than rushing down the driveway and washing our road base into the arroyo.

It’s not shaped up and graded yet (or it may be but it’s too dark to tell)

The swale will be gentle, so we can still drive across it with our many vehicles.

It won’t mess with our faithful rain lilies

I think the yard is just about graded enough to put out grass seed, but I may be wrong about that. It’s been a fun project to watch. My family menfolk sure are good with everything that goes into such a big project!

As you can see, naked Alfred is impressed.

Dogs seem to be doing better, and I’m happy that Anita knows what has been causing her abdominal pain. Gotta remove (yeet is the new word for that) the offending organ soon. We had a nice reunion of our Ruidoso travel gang this morning at the bakery and she told us all about diagnostic procedures. It’s good she knows a lot from all her medical journal editing.

O graphic medical pictures, just Benito showing his love of Lee.

I’m still soliciting healing energy for all my friends with health struggles, though. And I’m staying centered by sticking shiny things on sticky bookmarks. It works for me. But I’m gonna have lots of bookmarks.

Photos? I always have photos

Share a few recent shots from your camera roll, no context needed.

Sure, I’ll do that. But first a quick update on the big rainwater collection project. Much of today was spent grading the area around the house to keep the drainage good. In addition, my son put together a very nice exit for the drain pipe, which will protect the PVC and look like a design feature. It’s now graded perfectly to flow well, and theoretically to not erode thanks to hidden barriers of a shower pan liner and a hunk of cement that formed at the end of our big pour. Very clever.

I’ll save other news for tomorrow and instead follow instructions and just share photos. It’s so hard not to describe them!

SEO? Huh?

What are your strategies for SEO?

I had SEO strategies once. I did earn $100 from ads in two years. Not worth torturing readers for.

I was up with the sun today! Final dentist appointment for 2026.

After a while I thought about why I want to blog and what outcomes I want. I write to help me process what’s going on around me and inside me. I write to stay in touch with friends and family. I write because I’ve journaled and blogged for so much of my life that it’s a part of me.

Perhaps photos of correctly constructed temperature blankets will generate engagement. It’s correct now, January through September.

So, my search engine optimization strategy is to hope those AI bots give me some stats and that a bunch of fake followers don’t suddenly disappear (I lost 900 followers one day earlier this year—pretty sure they weren’t real).

This Mediterranean gecko (***Hemidactylus turcicus)*** is real, however, and was chowing down on bugs on the porch.

I’m happy to get some interaction out of this blog and to be able to remember recent events through it. I know blogs aren’t forever. I’ve already lost two! It’s ok. It’s the process that counts for me.

Apparently the process is what’s important about the rainwater capture project, too. Hoping it only sprinkles tonight so they can keep prepping for cement tomorrow.

The year has gone fast, and hot

I have a book to write about, but I’m still thinking about it, so let’s talk about my annual craft project, the temperature blanket. I finally finished September, which had a lot of boring tan squares in it to fit the size of the other units. If you remember, the squares are set up like a monthly calendar.

Since September started on a Tuesday and ended on a Wednesday, there are ten tans to build out the six rows needed for other months, like August.

August is the middle unit here, and you can see it requires all six rows, though most months don’t. You can also see that is was extra hot this summer. Last year there was only one day over 100° (the bright pink). August only had two days with a high of less than 95! No wonder Lee wants a house in the mountains!

I was all happy to share this photo of the first 3/4 of the year until I looked at it. Dang. I attached the last row upside down. I guess I was too engaged in watching football to double check. You know what I’ll be doing tomorrow night! Looks like making progress on October will be delayed!

Here’s a distraction. Kathleen found this lady beetle larva in some plant litter that remained after I removed some annoying spurge.

It was a good day for looking at bugs and dead stuff around the swimming pool, I guess! More prep work got done for setting up the rainwater collection, so we were outside talking about it for quite a while.

She also found this velvet ant (really a flightless wasp).

I was a little slow all day today, I think. As I was listening to her spouse tell me stories, Kathleen snuck up behind me and started messing with my hair. I kept feeling around but didn’t find any bugs or anything. We just kept talking. Then Alfred surprised me when he snuck up and drooled on my foot, so I blamed the hair weirdness on him (how, I don’t know). I didn’t figure out it was actually Kathleen poking at me for way too long. At least we all got a good laugh out of it. Believe me, we needed it.

October Big Day

Today was the October Big Day for birders. Cornell Ornithology Lab was encouraging everyone to report all their bird sightings today on eBird or Merlin Bird ID. Of course, I was up for that, and because I had an upset tummy thing, I stayed close to home, making it a good day to observe.

Since its calving season, it was easy to spot Black Vultures, Turkey Vultures, and Crested Caracaras.

There was a mama cow glaring at this Caracara who was enjoying a placenta snack (hey, it’s Nature’s cleaning service).

And House Sparrows were east to find, since they dominate the stump feeder.

Mostly, I enjoyed listening to birds. Mockingbirds are back to singing long and complicated songs, as are Carolina Wrens. (Bewick’s Wrens are still just buzzing.)

This Mockingbird was singing away on a high branch.

My favorite sight came late in the afternoon, when I went on a walk. Eastern Bluebirds were all over the pastures singing and diving for insects. They were pretty blue streaks against the brown grass.

All in all, I recorded 40 species today. That’s about average for this time of year. Below is the list, as checked off in the book Lee went to a lot of trouble to make me, only to find he forgot October. He’s making another one, and I’ll transfer these to the new book.

The list is birds I have seen before in November. It works for October. I just write in new species, and he will add them for next year. He likes to make books!

Good news: I’m feeling better mentally since coming home from New Mexico. I even had energy today to do all the chores and not feel exhausted. That made all the animals happy, because I hung out and played with them.

We were a little offended that you didn’t count us in the Big Day count, but we appreciated the romaine lettuce

I need to lose my post-horse-lesson depression weight, so my goal is to get back to my daily walks and horse stuff. It’s now cool enough in mornings and around sunset to walk without suffering, so I’m taking advantage of it. Besides, I get to enjoy flowers and sunsets!

The only hiccup in the day was putting the red border around September in my temperature blanket only to realize I’d omitted a row of blank squares. Oops. I should be able to show it tomorrow, though.

PS: more good news. I confirmed today that all three goldfish are still alive and swimming. There are still lots of the other fish, too, so Alfred is forgiven.

Out of the business business

If you could start a new business right now, what would it be?

Folks, the only way I’d ever participate in starting a new business would be if I were magically surrounded by competent people who are equally as invested as I am with the fantastic business concept who will contribute their special skills in exchange for sharing the profits. That’s not going to happen.

My happy, hypothetical team analyzing my great business idea. Photo from Pexels.

I’d want to come up with ideas, motivate and lead teams, network, and share my passion for the concept. Others would do taxes, finances, budgets, do advertising, and all those other aspects of business I suck at.

Truth is, I really don’t want to start a new business in such uncertain times. I would rather learn and share my learning with others without getting all capitalistic about it. So sorry, Suna’s Bird of the Week Embroidery Collection will not launch.

Sorry, Polly, the masses will not be buying your kits. Photo from Pexels, which actually had a free image of what I wanted!

You got this fascinating insight into my current business mood because there are no adventures, walks, or beautiful sights to report on today.

Thus, I worked like a good worker, and trained a lot of people in software. Then I read a lot and talked to the folks in our Ruidoso cabin. That confinement wasn’t all bad. There was lots of laughter and storytelling. Martha’s sister, Terri, and her husband Dave fit right in with our quirky gang!

After trying to do some sightseeing with her family, Martha came back and made spaghetti while Terri contributed a good salad. We had a cozy evening in, followed by sitting around reading about flooding from the huge system parked over Arizona and New Mexico.

Mike in his work setup, which he had to rebuild after dinner

I hope it moves on over and gives the ranch some rain. At least there’s a good chance.

Can you dig it?

Yes, I can. Today a lot got done around the house, and some of it was by me! I can dig that. I managed to go to the #1 Cameron meeting place, the bakery, and not be late. That’s because I mis-remembered the meeting time. So I got to talk to all the employees and other friends while I waited for Mike and Martha. We discussed our upcoming trip to Ruidoso (for longer this time).

My view as I waited. There’s a kid quietly playing in the kid area. A nice change of pace.

I steeled myself to be cheerful and positive as I did all the errands I was too slothful to do last week. I paid more for gas today than I ever have in my life. For some reason that inspired me to give the random sad-looking person sitting outside the station the change from buying my soda. Maybe it balanced out my irritation at the gas prices.

The first cheerful sight today was three Great Egrets all at once. That’s unusual here.

On my way to Tractor Supply to get animal feed in Rockdale, I passed all my favorite political candidates and waved. I also noted yard signs and a billboard. Wow! That cheered me up enough to enjoy the folks at Tractor Supply even when I had to wait to get loading help (I have tweaked my back). I got a shirt that says “Positive Vibes” to commemorate my improved mood. ) I could dig that, too!

Next I headed to the pharmacy, because I couldn’t drag myself over there to pick up a prescription before it expired. The bonus was my expensive prescription my insurance won’t pay was also ready. AND they had time to vaccinate me for flu and COVID, which we elders need. The new pharmacist is a very sweet young man who’s fun to talk to. He has a button earring. It’s so cute. I’m glad one of the new pharmacists is nice, since my favorite one finally escaped (I’m going into all this detail to show I made an effort to be a good influence in the world today.)

There was actual digging at the ranch today! The next phase of our water retention setup got into motion. It was great to see our ancient backhoe finally fixed and back at work! It’s more than a lawn ornament!

The dirt has to be dug away to build the foundation for the water tank next to the house, as well as pumps and filters. It was interesting to be reminded just how much dirt we brought in to create our foundation and get the drainage right. The black at the bottom of the reddish fill is the black land clay.

The white pipe is the sewer line that must move.

All went well with the digging except the sewer line out of our bathrooms got nicked. It was going to have to be moved anyway, it turns out. I’m relieved to report it’s fixed enough to work until the line gets moved into its new position.

There’s a lot of precise measurement required to do all the digging correctly, and I’m really impressed that the huge machine can be made to do such fine work. We’re lucky to have a resident tractor ballet expert at our house!He can dig it, very well!

What did Lee and I do during all the digging? We’ve been watching Lee’s favorite YouTube channel, which is a guy in Canada who does bookbinding. (Find the videos under Four Keys Book Arts.) What a complex process that is! The guy has a very pleasant demeanor, so calm and relaxed that you almost miss his puns.

Three books the guy bound for the author Andy Weir. The video series was called Project Hail Andy.

My favorite parts are when he does paper marbling and leather tooling, but it’s all more interesting than you might expect. I do think it’s funny that we’ve turned into people who spend their weekends watching stuff like this, but it’s certainly less stressful than the news.

And I can dig that!

I used to go places

What’s the longest trip you’ve ever taken?

Hello. I can answer this question in two ways. The longest distance I ever traveled was to Switzerland, which I have done twice, one when my children were young, and then when Lee and I went on the Rhine River cruise. the first trip was pretty much a nightmare and the second was the best vacation I’ve ever been on. I wish I could go on another Viking Cruise. Just the right mix of relaxing and seeing new things.

The longest length of time I’ve ever traveled was when I went to Toronto for three weeks to work. I had a wonderful time. It was probably the highlight of my time at Planview. I felt respected and valued by the nice people at CIBC (a bank).

Still feeling down. My Mom’s birthday was today, 104 years ago, so unlike many of my friends, I’m not freshly grieving or treasuring a living parent. But mostly the remembrance of 9/11 and all those lives lost hurts so much. (I’ll not repeat my personal tale, preferring to stick to the big picture).

Today’s coloring. Not scanned so it doesn’t look great.

And it’s so hot. Etc. So I colored and tried to enjoy football. However political ads and the fixation on gambling tamps my enthusiasm down. Whine.

So annoyed at Paxton ads that I made a drab mandala.

I’ll be back soon

Just not quite myself, so I’m pretty boring. Highlights? It rained .03” yesterday. I have spent most of my time the past few days working (not today), doing necessities like feeding animals, listening to birds (migrating sandpipers are here), and reading.

Other than that, I’m coloring. Keeps anxiety attacks at bay.