Update on today:
It’s just one of those times. I’ll keep breathing and accepting that life has its ups and downs.
I’m hiding and hibernating this weekend, I guess, spending most of my time with birds and horses. That’s just fine with me.
I’ve made sure Apache gets his rides and cantering in before this big cold front arrives. Terry the farrier said Apache has muscles! Mabel has a cut on her hip area from an encounter with a tractor, so I’ve been monitoring that and putting ointment with honey on it. It’s better now, but here was its original state.
All animals are as ready as I can get them for cold weather, with water, shelter, etc. I worry about Connie Gobbler, but the hen house should stay above freezing and I put electrolytes in the water bucket there, for her and the chickens.
Other than looking at birds, including a Vermilion Flycatcher today, I worked on my knitting. The border on last year’s temperature blanket is slowly growing (it’s 540 stitches long on the long end).
And today I was able to finish the third row of January on this year’s blanket. It looks more like a calendar now. I’m ridiculously excited about this cold front bringing temperatures low enough to have some purple in them! I guess that will make up for having to wear so many layers for a while!
Ignoring the metaphorical elephant in the room (the room being my country) I’ll just share that I tried to paint my nails black, maybe with one nail with a little sparkle to symbolize hope. But when I put the set I’d picked out on, I realized it was actually dark green. There goes my mourning theme. I guess it’s now the dark embrace of the forest, with little ice crystals, which I put on all the nails.
I expect I’ll be slightly off kilter for a bit, but I’ll be here to support my friends and family, all of them. Have a good Sunday.
I’m too tired to write much. Well, honestly, my back hurts too much to concentrate. Spending 3.5 hours in the seating at the place where our Master Naturalist meetings are held is too much, even with cushions. However, it’s good that we started a new member class and that I got going on borders for my temperature blanket from last year. Here it is in its lengthy glory:
I’m not sure how I didn’t realize the year would end with one day on the last row. So I added the beginning of January. At least that put a few cold days on that end of the blanket. I plan to do the black border wider on the long side to make it more balanced. we will see.
It was another pretty cool bird day. The highlight came when I was standing in the back yard of the house we are incredibly slowly renovating. Suddenly a Red-Shouldered Hawk landed on the old clothesline support, just a few yards away. We were impressed! And she stayed there. We left, not her.
It’s really fun to share an interest in nature with a family member!
Maybe tomorrow I’ll be perkier! I did enjoy the class this evening. The new students are interesting people.
Share five things you’re good at.
Since I’ve had a rough day emotionally, I’ll share something somewhat fun today. Of course, I’m good at many things, less good at others, like we all are. That’s one thing that makes people so interesting!
Here are the requested five things I’m good at.
One. I’m good at empathy. That’s both a positive and a negative. Today I truly felt someone’s pain over a loss. That wasn’t fun, but I’m glad I can do it. Empathy is probably why I’m so good at reading tarot cards. Combine empathy with a mind that treasures metaphors and insights keep a-coming.
Two. I can name animals well. I enjoy my human-like names. Since I’m on the letter C in chicken names, the new rooster is now Clint White. Get it?
Three. I’m a reasonably good writer. I’m not polished or brilliant, but I love expressing myself in writing. I have done it my whole life!
Four. I’m good at knitting and crocheting. I used to be very good, but now I just do it yo relax, not show how fancy I can be. My favorite thing is teaching others these skills, to bring a lifetime of never being bored.
Five. I’m good at using my peripheral vision. That’s how I can spot birds and animals so well. I detect movement practically as well as the ever-vigilant Apache. We are both easily attracted to movement when we are working together. No wonder we get along.
What are you good at? Since I love how people differ, I’m interested!
PS: sorry if the red text is hard to read. I designed it for the blog interface.
I’m still pretty out of it, so let’s talk about good parts of today. As always, plants, animals, and insects are good, even the differential grasshoppers, who lurk everywhere to surprise me.
Even the birds are feeling the summer heat. I enjoyed watching these Brown-headed Cowbirds today. They were making their weird gurgling noise.
The chickens and horses are feeling the heat, too. Poor guys.
I spent much of the day doing chores, cooking, and knitting. I made a couple of plarn discoveries. I need a crochet hook to help me pick up stitches along the edges when I start a new segment. Also, “throwing,” or English knitting is easier than Continental knitting when your yarn is plastic.
I haven’t finished the first ball of plarn yet, but it’s getting bigger. The plarn maker just randomly put in different colored bags, so it’s coming out quite random.
I still don’t know what this is. I may make it sorta big and use it as a camping mat.
My hands are holding up okay (weaving is tempting me nonetheless) but I’m still going to alternate with my Temperature Blanket, which is easier on my fingers. Speaking of which, we made it through June without any 100° days! But they’re coming.
Anyway, the day ended with a nice meal “cooked” by me (frozen lasagna and salad) and lots of time in the swimming pool with our camping buddies Mike and Martha. I’m glad the pool is still working. Long story behind that. and I’m glad for friends you can talk to about pretty much everything. We’re lucky!
Honestly, I’m not up to much writing or deep thinking right now. I’m not interested in discussing what’s going on with myself or in the world. So…let’s talk plarn.
I mentioned last week that my friend Steve’s cousin had made many balls of plarn, which is strips of plastic from those ubiquitous plastic shopping bags. The cousin had been very busy, and made them much more even and consistent than my early attempts. I brought them home and promised to make something to give to a charity. But first I had to experiment.
I got caught up to today in the Temperature Blanket, so I played with the plarn this afternoon. I looked for patterns but mainly saw bags, baskets, and mats for unhoused people or however you say it.
Most patterns I saw were for crocheted projects. I tried to start the circular thing above but it didn’t look so great. I needed a slightly smaller huge hook, but who knows where that might be. So I gave up on crochet for today.
That seemed to be a religious fabric, because it was certainly holey. Ha ha, I mentioned religion. I am afraid my giant purple knitting needles were too big. I always have to go down a couple of sizes.
This sample was with 10.5 US needles. It looks at least somewhat solid. So I keeps going with this one, enjoying the slight color changes as she changed bags. every so often she threw in a colored bag. I’m glad I made a sample, because I can tell I got more smooth at knitting with the plarn as I went along.
I found that edge pretty ugly, but I came up with a plan to pick up along the edges. That was fun. I think this project is a MAT. It will be built up log cabin style from here on.
Maybe it will be an item for dogs at the pound or something. It would be easy to clean…
It’s hard to come up with fun things to make, because you can’t make classics like hit pads, place mats, etc. it would melt. I’ll be honest. I don’t know how practical plarn items will actually be.
Comments?
Today didn’t go quite as planned, but it ended up okay. After an enjoyable rainy morning chat with Kathleen about what’s going on and her plans for the immediate future, I got some work done.
The sun came out soon enough, so I went out and found some more newly emerging wildflowers and a very cool fungus in the woods. I love my nature breaks.
The afternoon was supposed to be spent looking at potential four-wheel drive vehicles to tow behind Seneca the Motorhome, then some grocery shopping. Indeed, much car and truck looking ensued.
I guess we lucked out, because exactly what we wanted was at the dealership, which was a used two-door Jeep Wrangler. Best of all, it was a 2023 with, get this, 1700 miles on it. The previous owner probably didn’t want such a low-frills vehicle. But for bopping around campgrounds and exploring nearby sights while Seneca stays parked, it’s ideal.
Though small, Lee can get in it easily. That’s good, because it will have to be his daily driver until we get a farm truck or something to pull the horse trailer. The trade-in on Lee’s previous vehicle was more than the purchase price of the Jeep (and that was way off its original price), so we aren’t out anything, either.
And, we enjoyed talking to Mark, our salesman, who is our age and has more horses and dogs than we do! That commonality helped pass the endless car-buying hours. His paint horses were so beautiful. I got his business card. Also there was knitting. Thankfully.
We still have to get the towing hitch put on the Jeep and finish some things up, so Lee will get to talk to ole Mark more tomorrow. I tell you, I was pleasantly surprised at how quiet and comfortable the car is on the inside, compared to ones I’d ridden in before. And it’s pretty peppy. I never was a huge fan of these cars, but this one will be just great. It’s a bit rough in the suspension department, but it’s an off-road vehicle. It’s supposed to be rough.
Another thing I’ll tell you is that I do NOT plan to take the thing apart. Maybe the front roof panels, but that’s it. I’m not mechanical enough to put pieces back together correctly!
By the way, we never made it to the grocery store.
What are three objects you couldn’t live without?
This question intrigued me. And answering it is way more fun than talking about my anxiety attack from today. Ugh. I let something get to me today. So, hmm.
1. My glasses. I rely on my eyes so much! How could I read, write, look at birds, and knit easily without them? I’m so glad eyeglasses were invented.
2. My car. Not only is it pretty (red leather!) and zippy, but it’s my only way to get to food, friends, and non-ranch fun. I don’t want to hitch Fiona to a wagon to get supplies!
3. Knitting Needles. Weird but true. I need to knit to stay even semi-sane. I’d say I need a pair of circular size 4 US needles and I’ll be set for life. I can knit with any yarn-like stuff. String, strips of cloth, wire…whatever.
There you have it. I am sure my answers aren’t typical!
Today, other than dealing with mental challenges, Lee and I went to Temple to look for containers to put in my “new” nonfunctional freezer that will store horse food and foil those darn mice for good. Thanks to our neighbor for painting it red just before it died. It looks good. Now we just have to work out the storage method.
Lee even treated me to an early birthday lunch, which was fantastic. Seared tuna with a great salad. And I got free dessert!
Other than that, I mostly hung out with the birds and plants. That brings peace.
There is good news! Apache isn’t mad at me today. He even picked up his feet so I could take his boots off. I think he should only wear them a couple days at a time. It’s rubbing off his hair.
It’s still all rainy, but I managed to do nothing but stuff I enjoy. There was no horse fun, just slogging through mud and arguing with Apache over his medicine. I had bird and plant fun, though. Whoopee, the bluebonnets are coming in strong.
I indulged my boring American self and watched football coverage most of the day. I especially enjoyed the segment on the history of football on CBS. It was interesting to see the women and people of color highlighted. Jayne Kennedy also is a role model of grace and cool hair.
While I watched all the coverage and the very close game, I finished the third row of this year’s temperature blanket. I like seeing a more normal winter range.
Today isn’t shown, but will get 4 rain chains, since it rained another inch. Luckily we just got lots of standing water, and the creek stayed within its banks.
I needed to get some movement in today, so I wound some pretty yarn into cakes. It’s a soft merino 4-ply in a DK or sport weight. I’m glad it’s not sock yarn or I’d have had to double it. My friend Ray at Knitivity dyed it, and I just love the colors. Here’s what I made:
It’s mitered granny squares. They will look cool when there are more of them. Since the yarn is thin, the fabric will be light, yet warm. I think this will be a rectangular wrap, unless I have enough yarn for a lap blanket. Well wait and see.
I’ll still keep working on the two temperature blankets, but the 2023 one for my friend will finish sooner rather than later, and I can then crochet this.
As for the Big Game, I enjoyed it. I’m glad it was close so both teams can be proud of themselves. The commercials were good. As long as a couple make me laugh, I consider it a win, and I certainly laughed enough. The music was all good, and a nice variety. I like that Reba didn’t overdo the National anthem.
And Usher was such an athletic guy, all while singing. The roller skating, too! The guest performance singers were also enjoyable. I’m sure there were famous people I didn’t recognize, but I’m bad with pop music.
I knew eventually I’d stop being able to keep up! I feel like my dad saying all my music sounded alike to him. On the other hand, I’ve never really liked pop music, dance music, or the hip hop as much as folk and rock (and classical), so I’ll cut myself some slack. Maybe one day I’ll immerse myself into the last 20 years and learn what Beyoncé, Taylor, and all those folks sang.
Or not. They have plenty of fans.
Are there any activities or hobbies you’ve outgrown or lost interest in over time?
Probably many of us have waxed and waned in interests throughout life. My hobbies have remained pretty darned consistent, though. I did stop sewing (mostly quilts) for some reason, around the time when my other upheavals were heaving (divorce and nonprofit organization going up in flames). I still like reading, knitting, horses, nature, and hiking. Oh, and fingernail polish. That’s a weird one.
The amount of doing of any one thing goes up and down, of course. It’s part of the carousel of time. Oh wait, that’s some old song.
Speaking of carousels, my horses have made me feel like I’m on one lately. Up and down. But hey, today the horsies are on the up side (by the way I read that PETA wants to ban representing horses on carousels because that encourages people to think of them as conveyances — oy).
In addition to receiving their charming custom halters in the mail today, Apache and Drew both are doing better.
Tarrin came here again today for training and we ended up having a lot of fun. First she worked with the Problem Child, Droodles. He was much less reactive today, and after a bit of work on politeness, was able to get in some good ground work, including cantering (some even good cantering).
I had no trouble working with him, either, though he had a little canter meltdown that I took care of just fine. I’m improving.
Apache seemed glad to get back in the saddle today. Like he did yesterday, he did groundwork with glee. Tarrin said his canters were impressive, and that he did flying lead changes, like a fancy horse. He had so much energy that it was catching.
We did have to calm down when I got to ride him (yay!). Luckily all that rushing around tired him out a bit. We had some nice success working on a relaxed walk and some smooth trot transitions. That was so much fun to work on.
It appears he didn’t lose what we’d been working on before the abscess. That doesn’t surprise me. He’s always been able to pick right up where he left off. I’m so proud of him.
After we finished, Tarrin, her cousin, Lee, and I all went in the tack room and went through some of the stuff that came with the trailer. Some things there were so many of that I donated them to the prize collection for Working Horse Central shows. I should have thought of that sooner.
Tarrin was great at spotting what was trash (mechanical hackamores, stud chains) and treasures (this custom bit I’m trying to clean up).
She also encouraged me to take parts of some of the fancy bridles off and see if they would work on Apache’s bitless bridle. Now he has a fancy brow band. I can’t wait to try it on.
By the time they left, the prizes took up lots of space in Tarrin’s truck, plus I was able to give her cousin a horse blanket and other things. I got some really nice brushes I didn’t realize were in there. Pretty exciting stuff!
I was saddened to see that my big bird recording got trashed this morning, but I was able to remember most of what it heard. Besides, my walk in the woods was fun, since I got to see plants, fish, and the snapping turtle.
I’ll let those cheerful red-winged blackbirds be bird of the day, since I talked about their pals the cowbirds yesterday.
My dad hated these guys. The males would always go after him at our South Florida house when he was mowing the grass between our property and a Corps of Engineers canal. He also said they never shut up. That’s sort of true, though the house sparrows have them beat.
I didn’t realize the females arrived before the males until this year. They just make a clicking sound as they fly overhead in large flocks. The males show up around Imbolc and perch in trees or on wires loudly singing their distinctive songs. They make me think of wildflower season. Of course, there aren’t many of those yet. Just the tiny ones.
I hope you’re able to find an up part on your life carousel. But it’s true that getting to a high point is more fun when you start low. I think.
Dang. These blogs would be a LOT better if I wasn’t always writing when I’m sleepy.
The Hermits' Rest 