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.
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.
July, August, and September
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!
Hmm
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.
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.
In the birding hut, on the lookout
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.
Soon winter sparrows will arrive.
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.
This pair took a short rest break.
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!
Gomphrena weedSoap berryWright’s false mallowGiant reed (grr)Prairie tea (it makes a golden tea)
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.
Instead, here’s Benito eating grass.
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.
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.
Not me. Photo from Pexels
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.
It rained
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!
Chatting area
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 dinnerAnita and Martha scrolling for flooding news
I hope it moves on over and gives the ranch some rain. At least there’s a good chance.
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!
I’m a RAY OF SUNSHINE ☀️
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.)
Oh look, another egret.
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.
The dogs love all the dirt.
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!
Even sickly Harvey got down in the dirt
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.
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.
Cruise highlights
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).
Eating poutineSecond or third trip there. Those were during polar vortexes
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.
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.
The fish say hi.
Other than that, I’m coloring. Keeps anxiety attacks at bay.
Lee scanned these for me. They look better in person, because some of the colors have metallic sheens in a second color.
Have you ever regretted reading a book — which one and why?
Shoot, I wasn’t going to do the prompt today, but when I saw the question, the answer immediately popped into my head. I know the Sidney Lanier Elementary School librarian thought I was a mature child due to my vocabulary and reading skills. And I know she was aware that I loved books about horses. I’m guessing I’d pretty much gone through the entire horse collection during the hours Mrs. Atwater sent me away from the class so she could teach reading to the rest of the class in peace. But really. A ten-year-old girl is not a good candidate to read and appreciate the life lessons taught in John Steinbeck’s The Red Pony. Spoiler alert: the pony doesn’t fare well.
I don’t know if a 68-year-old highly sensitive adult woman who loves animals is a good candidate. Yep. I regret reading that book because it gave me many years of bad dreams.
Honestly, as hard as I’ve been trying, I feel like my attempts at seeing the good in the world, being friendly, and appreciating what I have can’t keep the mental struggles away. If you’re feeling down, too, I see you and commiserate. We can hold each other up. I’m here to listen, too. It keeps us connected.
Hey, look. It’s July and August of this year. Last year there were no pink days (over 100°) in the temperature blanket.
I do have things to bring a smile to my face, though. Kathleen gave me a very pretty tree of life hanging decoration and a whole set of matching coasters that she decorated herself. Each coaster is different!
Almost too pretty to use
Plus, I’m boosting my spirits by taking pride in doing hard things. For example, I’ve unpacked all my bags from my trip! And though I bought some shoes, I put three times as many in the donation boxes. Bonus: it’s been over a month and my closet is still all picked up. Look at meeee!
Note the empty space on the shoe shelves. The only thing sitting out is tomorrow’s t-shirt
I will not dwell on the things I’ve not done that I should do. I’ll just try again tomorrow.
Which outdated technology do you miss the most, and why?
I still feel bad in the tooth department but I’m gonna answer this question anyway, since nothing exciting happened today(which is good). Anyway, I miss two things from the olden days of my youth, back in the 20th century.
One is standard transmissions in cars. It was just plain fun to drive a stick shift when I was younger. You felt like you were actually telling the car what to do, as opposed to today’s cars that control the speed, yell at you if you stray out of your lane, and park for you. Cars used to be fun.
You could shift these babies.
The other thing I miss is just for the fun aspect, and that’s intercom systems in homes and offices. It was so much fun to yell at your siblings on intercoms (we didn’t have one, but well-off friends did.) I know it was supposed to be so cool to play the radio throughout the house…but I liked paging parents. And oh, my, did we have fun in my first “real” job in Illinois, calling each other into our offices and being silly until we were reminded that it WAS a business.
That’s kind of the idea (Pexels photo)
All I know is we removed a lot of those systems when remodeling houses.
Genuine news! Finally have the first half of the year of temperatures in my blanket. July was hot!
I’m trying really hard to feel less down in the dumps and to make sure my mouth is healing. The dogs are still entertaining, though!
Sigh. My lovely meal last night, which featured a cream-based soup, fried oysters, French-fried potatoes, and collard greens swimming in grease was a recipe for extreme discomfort for me, since I no longer have a gall bladder to spurt out extra bile for fat/filled meals. Needless to say, I didn’t have a fun night of sleep, or was I up for another nature day today.
Morning view was not bad. I looked for dolphins.
But Anita and I made the best of it by taking it easy this morning until I felt better. We then went to the Market Commons shopping area, which is like most such places, losing tenants. But we found Chico’s, where I could get a second pair of jeans to make up for forgetting to bring any. Um, and some shirts and shorts. We also enjoyed talking to the staff. They always have such nice old ladies in those stores (in other words, women our age).
We then visited an art gallery for local artists of varying qualities. I enjoyed some of it a lot, and of course, I got to chatting with the two women who were there. One was crocheting some simple dolls that she makes for the gallery (I forgot to get a photo). The other was creating cute coloring pages of the whimsical characters she paints.
The doll lady got me all interested in Sumi-e painting, which she studied after being told she had no talent for watercolor (what kind of teacher tells students that?). I may get a book and practice pad.
These practice pads look cool for any technique practice.
She was starting a doll and when I expressed interest, she told me exactly how she makes the bodies, which is ridiculously easy. But I wouldn’t have figured it out myself. She even sent me out with a crochet hook and some t-shirt fabric yarn to practice on. What a generous soul she was! I even have an idea to make similar items with knitted outfits.
I did buy two coloring books from the other lady, one as a gift for Ruby the goddaughter.
To make it up to Anita for sitting through the craft talk, I took her to a pleasant bistro near the gallery, where I had a sensible salad. She had a crab cake sandwich that she declared was good as one from Baltimore.
We enjoyed a nice beach walk, which I really needed. We wondered what the globs of clay-like stuff on the beach were, but assumed it was from dredging that’s going on. They are weird sights.
Wondering about the weird clay blobs
I’m reading a lot so I got another book at Barnes and Noble. I finished a book of Steve Martin’s writing, so I needed a longer queue. Eek, I now need to write two book reports! Two in the queue will take a while, Michael Pollan’s latest and Kevin’s history of Americans being mean to Cherokee people in the late 1700s. It’s important to learn these things to remind myself that assholes have been trying to put down others since this country was founded. (And yes, others had great ideals.)
Beach sunset
On that note…off to bed in anticipation of fun tomorrow.
