If you could switch lives with a famous person for a week, who would it be and why?
You know, being famous doesn’t appeal to me very much. I’d like to be appreciated by those who matter to me, but being famous and surrounded by “fans” is not appealing. Maybe I could switch with someone who’s famous for being an anonymous benefactor would be okay. I’d enjoy benefacting.
I always feel magnanimous feeding the fish.
Nah, I’m all accustomed to being me. I’m used to my quirks, my personality, my pleasantly average looks, and the friends and family who can put up with me (and vice versa). Since there’s always something new to learn right here being me, I’ll just stick with it through all the ups and downs.
My nails are ready for the Master Naturalist annual meeting!
Here in the adequately interesting world of Suna, I found a few more butterflies for the Bioblitz, but I’m ready to blitz hard tomorrow in Waco.
MonarchPerhaps a corn ear worm mothFiery skipperDusky skipperGray hairstreakBird! I’m sure you know this one.
The team at KCC Construction was at full strength today, which means the form for the big slab to hold the huge water tank now has buttresses to hold the weight of the concrete, an area all smoothed for the pad to hold pumps and filters, and the drains set up. Plus much rebar has been bent for more strength. That pad’s gonna be solid!
Yesterday’s progressImpressive The dogs really love the dirt pilesAll new water lines so we can switch back to city water if we need to. That’s the tank way back by the pool house. Rebar and supports are inIt’s a good lookAll this gets buried when all the water pipes are set up.
I tried to do two errands at lunch, but once again managed to hit the pharmacy during their lunch break. Sigh. However, Lee and I did manage to vote. It felt good to vote for people I actually know and like. I did have a bit of a panic attack when I was finished. I guess my internal angst about the outcome slipped out. I chatted with a friend and feel better now. I’ll deal with what happens later when it’s later.
See, I smiled when I was done!
Thanks for all the nice thoughts on what I share. I feel like I’m talking to very quiet people. Thanks, too, for your messages, texts, and calls.
It’s not hot anymore! The weather today would have been quite pleasant, except that the cold front literally blew in. Like a leaf blower on steroids.
Looking breezy
Merlin only heard 8 bird species. Luckily my eyes saw three more, but 11 is a real low!
The mountain was gradually moved back to where the backhoe is, so the area could be smoothed down.
And the guys working on the forms for the cement pads had to be careful so pieces of wood wouldn’t blow them around. All the dirt moving also left a film of dust everywhere.
Mountain is moved!Area is prepped for forms. Worker, though slim, didn’t blow awayFirst of forms and all the stakes are inHa! If it rains again before the concrete pour, this temporary setup will send all the roof water away!Bricks from building the house were discovered.
Worst: the cattle ranchers had spread fertilizer yesterday. Everything smells like poop. I was looking all over the house to see which dog had pooped, sprayed Lysol all over the house, and was totally baffled until I finally remembered that tractor pulling something behind it yesterday. Dogs are forgiven, but some horse is in Trouble for messing up yet another water trough float. (Spice)
I didn’t do anything! I’m leaving!
I did manage to get out and snap some pollinator photos for the bioblitz, though the plants were very wiggly. I was surprised at how many butterflies and dragonflies stayed still long enough, and the workers found me a cool rabid wolf spider with eggs (not a pollinator, but interesting).
Salt marsh asterLeaf footed bugChristmas cholla Hunter’s little paper waspRabid wolf spider and egg sacPond amber wingTawny emperorSeven-spotted lady beetle Large milkweed bugGreen antelope horns seedsEastern pond hawk
The wind had started to die down when we went to eat some Mexican food this evening. That bodes well for a chilly tomorrow!
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.
I did it. I packed up about half my clothing to go to the local thrift shop. Everything else is on hangers, folded, or in the correct drawer. Today’s push to the finish line took me three tries with some resting in between, but I did it.
Looking in from the door. The surface of the island/drawers is visible.
While some folding isn’t very good (ahem, the jeans and sweaters), it looks way better as it is. I know where my dresses and sleeveless tops that aren’t polyester are (polyester ones are gone). I can see my dress pants. Outfits are stored together. Lee wanted to know how I group things. It’s pretty idiosyncratic, but I’ll share. Here are my categories:
Fancy dresses/tops (small category)
Wraps
Dresses (long sleeve, short sleeve, sleeveless)
Tunics, same groupings
Button-up shirts
Nice work tops
Work ensembles (items with matching accessories)
Political t-shirts
Long-sleeve casual
Holiday and Buc-ees tees
Winter shirts
Long-sleeve plain t-shirts
Long sleeve state park
Solid t-shirts
Tie-dye t-shirts
State/national park short sleeves
T-shirts with birds, flowers, etc., by color
Dallas Cowboy shirts
Master Naturalist shirts
Sleeveless tops
Sweatshirts
Rock/folk music shirts
Dress pants
Vests
Scarves and belts
Jackets
Purses on top shelf
Boxes for bathing suits, gloves, etc.
Shoes. Yes they are organized, too. I’ll spare you.
This is ridiculous.
You can see the jean pile and jewelry area I still have to clean.
I even removed many shoes and the only ones on the floor are house slippers and summer sandals, which have a niche. That was a lot of work, too. I have about 200 empty hangers but do not plan to acquire that many clothes! Now I need to make myself hang clean clothing as soon as it’s finished. Wish me luck.
I am proud.
I found a couple of items to pass on to friends or family. But mostly I hope the good stuff I’m passing along brings someone else joy. I’m ready to pass out.
Is this not the most clueless selfie ever? The hair! The dirt and sweat on shirt! The eyes looking at who knows what! But I did my job.
Let’s just hope I can keep it going better than I usually do. It’s very hard to show people your closet. Makes you feel vulnerable.
I rewarded myself for all that closet cleaning I’ve been doing by saying yes to an invitation to meet our friends Mike and Martha at the bakery in town. Lee even agreed to come along, though he was displeased that screeching children were hurting his ears. Nonetheless we all had nice conversations.
The bakery is so cute and GOOD. Visit Shirley Mae’s Bakery if you’re ever in Cameron, Texas.
Since I am the lesser hermit, I enjoyed talking to Martha, my friend Mary who was there with her family, and my son and his partner, who also came in. Then I had to have a good chat with the bakery owner’s dad and their nice employee, who collects Native American jewelry and is a Master Gardener, so she knows some of my friends.
We both love wildflowers!
This, dear readers, is why small-town living can be pleasant. I enjoy it much more now that I’m not paranoid about gossip and mean-spirited people. I’m glad I’m better at not caring about people who aren’t nice.
After all that socialization I was fine with watching some TV (finished Hawk and got through much of Ride or Die today) in the quiet house.
Of course, I spent two more hours putting clothing into boxes and moving things around. I almost finished sorting everything hanging up, and I disposed of two garbage bags of plastic hangers from my old house.
This was a mess. It’s my work outfits, dresses, and what passes for dress-up attire. Master Naturalist, football, and sleeveless items on top, sweatshirts below )more to hang). At right are vests and jackets.
I still have a big pile of stuff to hang, now that there’s room for it, and plenty of hangers! That shows you how big the purge was. Tomorrow the hanging stuff will be hung, and if I have time, shoes will be culled* and arranged.
The horror! Goal is to have the surface of this island visible tomorrow.
My teeth still hurt but it’s better every day. I think the dry socket is healing. I think I’ll join my sleeping beauties and indulge in my favorite activity, sleep.
Carlton and Benito are doing much better these days. B is healing.
(*Sue, that’s the word my typo was trying to be yesterday)
Sometimes I’m not sure. I’m more of a collector, or so I tell myself. And I have sentimental attachments to objects that seem to have meaning. Assigned by me, no doubt.
I should collect wildflowers. They disappear.
I decided I’d gone too far in my closet when it was getting to where it was just solid clothing with paths among it. It got that way partially because the contents of the “holiday closet” got shoved in there when the air conditioning unit was being worked on and no one put the boxes and weird foam mattress pad back.
That made it harder to hang clothing…and ugh. I also had been putting off my annual clothing purge, because I knew there would be things that had to go but meant a lot to me at one time (silly shirts I bought just to support a store, and horse show attire I’ll never wear again, for example). It’s my fault it’s painful; I need to get over my sensitive self.
Carlton is trying to look judgmental at me, but the yarn hanging from his mouth makes it look like he has a gang.
But, as I’ve mentioned, I got the process started last week and have made good headway. I have one whole side of the hanging clothing thinned out. I need to make space so I can rearrange clothing by my idiosyncratic categories.
Looks full? I culled this by at least half.
I still need to get the long wall of hangers sorted. I think there’s very old clothing Lee has brought in from storage, which also explains why I feel like a hoarder. Two separate wardrobes are crammed into one closet (albeit a very large closet). And I have always collected t-shirts. I purge them, and more magically appear with funny bird sayings and such.
This is long-sleeved shirts on top (right side is long-sleeved shirts from travels) and holiday shirts plus casual long-sleeves on the bottom. At left is the section of dressy tops that I have gone through.
I’m posting about this to keep myself accountable. Now that I’ve shared my project, I hope I’ll be more encouraged to complete it. And I know the local thrift store will be pleased. I have two more very large boxes for them. I’m not a hoarder, I guess. I just make piles and cull them.
My tooth still hurts a bit. I hope the dry socket didn’t dry out again.
While today wasn’t exciting, it was satisfying. The family got things done that they’d been wanting to do for a while.
As a result, our surroundings are more pleasant and will be even more so soon!
Yesterday my giant tree stump was sculpted into a multi-level bird feeding platform. It was fun watching the little chainsaw making all the cuts.
Space for various feeds.
With the yard all weed-eated and mowed, things looked pretty spiffy. Thanks, men. It’s spiffier now, because Lee and I went to Lowe’s and got a few plants, a suet feeder and some bird seed. I moved my solar birdbath to where I can see it, and set up the suet feeder this afternoon. It looks very nice. Perhaps birds will even find and use it. I hope to get photos.
I haven’t fed birds before, since we have plenty of natural bird food here and I don’t want to attract unwanted diners. So I’ll only put out a little food each day to try and get pictures.
It’s nice that Lee has taken up gardening since we built the porch. The houseplants are cheerful. What’s not cheerful are all the plants growing on the pool deck and flower beds. There are some, like nut grass and fall asters that I can’t pull up. Plus the Bermuda grass from when our yard was a pasture won’t go away by pulling. So, reluctantly, I will have to make use of herbicide. All precautions will be followed. Once the poolside bed only has the plants we want, we have some native plants to add in. That’s my plan, anyway.
This will look much better tomorrow. It has to perk up. My favorite portulaca and Lee’s favorite, wandering dude (yes, that’s what it’s called now).
Work is also starting up again on the pool house project behind our house. I love discussing all the creative plans for building it out to look good and do creative re-use of materials.
Carlton and Benny were inspecting the work—you can see Carlton coming out.
I’m looking forward to my plans for tomorrow, which I hope will include more horse time than today. Kathleen’s keeping up with her Dusty work. I do a lot of petting and grooming. But I did see Vicki and her horse, Malone, today. It’s fun having a visitor on horseback!
Like many other rural parts of the US, the county we live in is having lots and lots of farmland bought up to either produce energy or use a lot of it. We have seas of solar farms stretching for miles that were corn or cattle just a few years ago.
Google’s largest solar farm. Right in our county. Opened in 2024. Photo from KTBX.
We are also seeing land sold for our benevolent buddies, AI data centers. There’s a big one going in north of here and I’ve noticed a new electrical substation going in down the road from us, as if there wasn’t already one a mile or so away.
This is under construction now. (I miss Micah Wilson—he was too good to be stuck in our small market)
As you may be aware, data centers use a lot of water. So do suburbs in the adjacent county. (I’m aware that data center proponents assert they recycle water, and I’m sure some of that does occur. But anyway, much of the water in our aquifer is going to people and places who aren’t us.
Many folks in this part of Texas are concerned about our water sources, and concerned about drought, as well. So, Lee decided we should get some giant rainwater storage tanks.
Why look, here come some tanks now!
There are two 5,000 gallon tanks now in our back yard. Each will collect water from one of our roofs, the house and the garage. I’m told we can also supplement with city water if necessary, but the hope is to get all our water this way.
Fascinating to dogs
Yes, there are filters and stuff. I’m supposed to go to some class about it, after which I can speak more knowledgeably about it. Until then, I shall trust the family member who did take the class already to set it up.
Big
The pad for the garage tank was already built, so now the second pad has to be built and the tank loaded on it. Because of how many water lines, gas lines, and such there are beside the house, the tank will have to block the guest room window. But the residents never open the blinds anyway.
Lowering the trailer First tank is offYou can see where tank #2 will go. Lowering the second tankIn place. The door could still be used!Compare Lee to the tank Both tanks. I like that they match the house. Markers where the new concrete pad will go.
I didn’t think this would happen so soon, but it’s good, I guess. Those data centers can take all the groundwater, but we will still have some as long as we get at least some rain. Yay?
Oh my, I don’t even recognize myself this week. You see, one of my “features” is that I love organizing things, but paradoxically, I let things get very disorganized when I get upset about whatever it is. (Expect a disorganized tack room in the future).
When I was a younger person, all my books were organized by fiction, nonfiction, and crafts, and in high school I made my own card catalog and record album catalog. No Excel yet to make spreadsheets. So I’ve always liked cataloging and organizing objects I love.
I’m no longer so organized.
As a teen, I also loved nail polish and organized my bottles by color, along with my friend Lynn. It kept us out of trouble!
We didn’t have such fancy stuff in the 70s.
I still love nail polish, an odd but fairly harmless hobby. I’ve found that I enjoy nail strips made from real polish to work well for me. I’m good at putting them on (due to being crafty), and they remove with plain nail polish remover—so much easier on my nails than salon manicures. Um, this is all to say that in the past 4-5 years I’ve worn and accumulated some strips. (understatement)
So, my pusher…I mean nail lady…hooked me up with an app that tracks the stuff I use. I entered all the ones I’d already used (I’d posted it in a Facebook group) and then entered all the ones I have, conveniently organized by color and such. I do like organization. Voilà.
The used ones
and more
The ones in waiting. I use one set a week. I probably don’t need any more.
But hey. It’s organized! Now go off and laugh at me for having a weird and wasteful hobby. I don’t blame you and also don’t care. I think we’re all entitled to odd pastimes as long as they aren’t putting us deep in debt. And I’m not. I realize that this, and a few other hobbies (yarn, shoes) will have to go bye-bye once I retire and am on a fixed income. I’m already not spending as much on horses…
All this cleaning means my hat is moving slowly.
So instead of worrying about all that, I’m doing that organizing stuff I do every few years or so. Yep. That’s the rate at which I organize my craft material. Thanks to those fine new shelves I wrote about last time, I took advantage of having more space in my office closet to drag all my yarn and craft books out of the storage container and put them away.
So many books, though that isn’t all.
I’m ridiculously proud of myself for getting this done. I got rid of a lot of stuff I don’t need, and collected many odds and ends of very nice yarn to share with my next-door neighbor. Many boxes went out the door! Yes! I de-cluttered!
More books and supplies.
Of course, the books are not in any order yet, and I need to sort the yarn by weight better than it is now. At least I have pretty stuff to look at, and all my needles are in one place. I had too many things in too many tote bags. That’s a common knitter/crocheter thing!
There is even some decor. What?
I also have my embroidery, needlepoint, and weaving stuff all together. I know where everything is for the first time since I left my house in Brushy Creek. That feels good.
Some bags have projects or future projects in them. A calendar!Not sure what’s at upper left. I’ll go through it. The giant boxes are more yarn to sort. The bottom bag has SO many knitting needles.
Here I go down my emotional wormhole…
In this big clean-up, I got rid of a lot of the emotional baggage from people who made doing my hobby less than fun. It’s like with the horses—I need to separate the things I love (knitting, horses) from people who hurt me deeply. It’s about time in that knitting thing! But I got through the La Leche League stuff, the mean dog guy here in Cameron, and (mostly) my psychotic sister. I can do this!
So, I wonder if I’m brave enough to tackle my clothes closet? I have so much to pare down there. It needs a cleanse of negative energy! Who’s hiding in there?
I have a couple of crafty updates on something other than my temperature blanket, for once. Oooh, aah.
Sunset was prettier in person tonight.
First, my craft closet has been in a state of disrepair for a few months, because one of the shelves Lee put up for me collapsed and spread all kinds of mess, including hundreds of photos, all over the floor. And I admit that I had little motivation to fix it back up, because there just weren’t enough shelves in it to hold my vast holdings of books, yarn, needles, looms, etc.
Yes, I have two simple looms, one Cricket and one Navajo. I would actually like to make some tapestry and such. Later. You know, when I retire. Ha ha.
Anyway, my personal contractor/child, who’s been helping out with some projects here, made me a new, sturdier shelf to replace the broken one plus a few more to turn what was once a clothing closet into the craft closet I’ve been wanting for 12 years. I feel so pampered!
Shelving. Not showing the work in progress boxes of yarn on the floor.
There was a narrow area that just cried out to have more shelves, so he put some there, too. I thought it was nice of him to make them match, even though I said there was no need to paint them. I’m the only one who will be looking in there.
Ready for books.
Now my den area is still full of yarn and endless tote bags of sad unfinished projects. I should be able to organize everything in the next few days though I may need to think about yarn organization. Some I’m giving
I got a good portion of the books up. Pardon the giant circular knitting needle holder at left. It works!
One of the good things about going through my yarn and needles is that I found things that I could used (in addition to my depressing basket of sock yarn that moths attacked). I located all my sets of circular needles, all of which were missing size 4, the size I use most. I suspect I’ll find those among some of my WIPs (works in progress). I think a few of those may end up being frogged (rip it, rip it) and the needles put back into circulation.
It’s okay, though, because I finally found the set of short size 4 tips and a shorter cable. This has enabled me to start a new hat with some beautiful red wool I found. So far it’s an inch of K1 P1 ribbing.
And it matched my shoes.
I already finished one hat of this pattern, which knitters around the US are making as a sign of solidarity with friends and family who are in places where fear is growing. I couldn’t find enough red yarn last week to finish my first try, so I made one in a gray gradient (Mandala) acrylic yarn. I added a red tassel. It came out great and I can wear it without looking silly.
I didn’t enjoy the needles I found, which were aluminum with pretty stiff cables for knitting in the round. The yarn is not annoying for acrylic, either. But I’m enjoying the nice Peruvian wool, wooden needle, and flexible center very much.
Really easy pattern, and probably best for four double-pointed needles, but I’m stubborn.
It’s pleasing to have more craft work to do, since I have no more horse lessons and it’s been too cold and soggy to walk or ride. I found even more red yarn (a beautiful Malabrigo) but I can see it’s a moth victim. Never fear, though, I ordered some inexpensive wool from Michael’s so I can make a couple more for non-crafty friends.
You can see the needles I didn’t like in this photo, sort of. And the cool yarn.
Naturally, looking at all my “stuff” reminded me of my unfinished needlepoint and some cross stitching I once wanted to do. Hmm. What will I switch to? I vow to pass some of my stash on to others though, especially since my next-door neighbor is crocheting up a storm.
I’m hopeful that life is settling down a bit, at least on the home front. It’s back to being normally cold for here. That’s a relief. And tomorrow I won’t write a post full of knitting jargon!
