Thursday, 30 September 2021.

Yesterday I worked on one of the crazy quilt squares. Have been trying to use a variety of new stitches and it was proceeding quite well until I was on the second round of grid work and realized a mistake. I attempted to correct the error, but the fix looked bad in my perfectionist vision. So today I'm taking the stitches back and reworking the grid. Should be pretty when it's finished. Serves me right for thinking the pattern was easy.

Finally found a purpose for those plastic floss boxes I bought from Elaine. Am going to sort out my buttons in them. One more thing for the to-do list. 

Went for a walk with Nancy and her two pups last night. Have discovered that I sleep better if I walk at least two miles a day. So does bonehead. Have woken to the alarm at 6 a.m. the last two days. Feels weird to sleep that late. Have been waiting until 7 o'clock when it's light enough to see the poop to walk Bandit. He hasn't quite adjusted yet.

Saw the deer again this morning. The fawns are almost as big as mama now. Thankfully, the deer netting is keeping them out of the garden.

Rearranged some more of the craft supplies yesterday. Still have a long way to go.

Got a call from Lucinda last night. Her aneurysm is getting bad again. She has to have brain surgery in three weeks. She'll let me know the date. She's been a good friend these last couple of years. Am praying she pulls through okay. 

Time for breakfast and to get started on chores. W is coming by tomorrow to gather the waste metal and pick up the mortgage payment. I'd like to have some sense of order here when he drops by.

My OCD kicked in and I finished the square filling stitch portion of the quilt square.

Sunday Morning, 26 September 2021.

Woke up with a bloody nose this morning. Most likely because the furnace is on. Have it set to 70 and am hoping it can remain at that temperature until Spring.

Already had to use steroid cream on my eyes because the rash and swelling were apparent. 

The animals are taken care of and I'm drinking a second cup of coffee while I wait for the CBS Sunday Morning broadcast to begin at 9 a.m.. Have a couple crazy quilt blocks on the table beside me to work on while I wait.

The cube shelving I ordered from Amazon arrived Friday. I unboxed and put it together yesterday. It's surprisingly sturdy. Filled some of the shelves and will work on filling a few more in the next week.

Moved the scale, elliptical and other items that were outside under the "circus tarp" back into the shed until the Spring town-wide yard sale. One thing to cross off the to-do list.

Henrietta has decided to grace me with her presence. She's warming my leg and purring like crazy. She's a beautiful cat with a sassy attitude. When I stop petting her she looks at me as if to say, "Hey! Human. I did not ask you to stop. Please, continue." She likes to sit on my lap when I do my Spanish lesson in the morning. I keep thinking of writing a kids book about all my sweet animals. They're such a comfort.

Friday, 24 September 2021.

It was 46 degrees when I woke this morning. Had to turn the heater on.

Fixed the second raised bed greenhouse topper yesterday and put it on the bed that has the green peppers in it. Sue says pepper plants can be over-wintered, so I'll probably research how that's done.

Mulched the asparagus bed and the weigela plant. Can't wait to eat fresh asparagus next spring. Need to look up how to care for the plants to see if I have to cut them down before snow or not. 

Been canning tomatoes this week. One batch at a time. So far I have twenty one quarts of regular tomatoes canned and four quarts of stewed tomatoes frozen. One batch remains and I can't decide whether to make stewed or regular. The regular are easier, but I surely do love stewed tomatoes.

Have also been embroidering on the crazy quilt squares I started a year or so ago. Made a peacock on one of the fan blocks. 

My back and leg are starting to feel better. Still have sore, itchy ear and sore throat. Trying to tough it out as opposed to going to the doctor.

The "batting" on the shed never happened this week. No rain in the forecast for the next several days, so I'm hoping it will get done before the weather turns too cold to paint. Have to move the gallons of paint inside before they freeze.

September 17. Friday.

Moved the furniture in the small bedroom back to the way it was before I flipped it. Also moved a bookshelf in there to set the small TV on. At some point I'll need to hook the security cameras back up.

Looked at a bunch of craft stuff in the back bedroom. Only way to organize the bulk of it is with shelving. Found some affordable metal/plastic cube shelving on Amazon and ordered it. Might have to get two of the same thing, but going to start with one set of twenty-five cubes. Praying that's enough because I need to save money for Winter needs.

Yes. Winter is just around the corner.

Added a free edX course on Buddhism to my daily tasks. Note: I reached one hundred days on Duolingo a couple days ago. Yea for me!

Am taking Linda Collins (a neighbor) to the veterinarian today. Her senior dog, Maddie, who had cancer surgery a couple months ago is ailing again. I surely hope the vet doesn't euthanize the pup. She's Linda's whole world. 

In other news, I think my apple trees are dying. They look similar to the thorn apple tree in the back yard. Leaves are spotted and falling off. The strange thing is there is also new growth on them. Will be pulling out the gardening books to see what I can do to fix.

Kiki seems to have decided to stay here for now. He doesn't really care for Honey Bun, but Honey doesn't seem to be very afraid of him. I've cleaned the heated cat house and travel crate bedding. Will be weatherizing the travel crate before the weather gets much colder.

Am off to hang laundry outside and get a shower. Gotta make a grocery list and do some shopping. 

So much to do.

September 16, 2021. Thursday.

 Went to Millers Farm Market in Olean yesterday. Went the back way through Foster Brook and past Rock City. Got to Olean and was really confused because W had shown me that way with a couple turns and apparently I missed a turn. Pulled into a parking space and plugged where I was going into the GARMIN GPS and it not only didn't audibly direct me, it gave false information. After two false turns, pulled out my phone and used Google Maps to get me there. Was pretty angry at W when I realized to get there was a straight shot from the route I take to go to Ollie's and Home Depot. He's been taking me all different ways and basically getting me lost.

Anyway...

Picked up three half bushels of canning tomatoes, a peck basket of green peppers, some onions and a small bag of potatoes. Thankfully the tomatoes aren't quite ripe, so they can sit a couple days while I do other things around the house. Did manage to get the peppers cleaned up and frozen for use in stuffed peppers, stir fry and even diced for stewed tomatoes.

Stopped at Strayer's Greenhouse on the way back home and got two gorgeous purple mums for the back entry.

Had spoken with Susan on Monday about making the little bedroom more craft-friendly; then got a message from Lucinda informing me she and a friend are stopping by next month to visit. Figured I'd better get started cleaning up the house so it's a bit more presentable when they arrive. 

With both those thoughts in mind, I grabbed the small table from the shed and set it up by the computer. Didn't like how it would look from the doorway with all the craft supplies beneath it, so decided to flip the room only to discover it really didn't look good that way. Today I'll be flipping it back.

Might try to haul the hutch out to the shed by myself. 

Dead headed the zinnias out front and the spent flowers on the butterfly bush. Transplanted some of the spinach from the red, white and blue planter into the bed with the green pepper plants and planted radish and bok choy seed there because that is will be the second Winter garden bed. Still need to mend that greenhouse topper.

Going to go through the tomatoes today to make sure there aren't any ripe ones. If there are I'll have to get them processed. 

The bananas I bought need to be made into bread so that needs to be done today too.

So much to do. So little time.

Craving bacon, so am going to thaw some and have it for breakfast. 

I miss you, Mom. 

Toodles.

September 12, 2021. Sunday Morning.

Yesterday was the twentieth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the Trade Towers in New York City and the Pentagon in Arlington, VA. It was also Dan, my son-in-law's birthday.

My day started out the same as always with tending to the fur babies. Then it was a 7 a.m. trip to Wal-Mart to pick up pet supplies, a few groceries and a hand truck for moving furniture.

After returning home and stowing perishables in their proper places, I  called Dan and wished him a him a happy and we chatted a few minutes. He had barely passed the telephone to Susie when a call waiting tone sounded and I had to say goodbye and take a call from Luke. Jacob had answered the phone initially and I'm going to have to call him back because we never really had a chance to talk.

Why did I take a call from Luke? He and his girlfriend were coming over to move the roll top desk from the little bedroom to the shed and he was calling to give me an estimated time of arrival: one o'clock.

I had purchased the supplies to make subs (meat, cheese, rolls and shredded lettuce). Offered to make some macaroni and cheese from scratch, which was accepted. So, I got busy boiling macaroni and shredding cheese.

Once they arrived I asked for help moving the picnic table and air conditioner, which they did. Felt bad that the only payment they got was my broken Nintendo and five jars of jam. Gave them another five jars for Billy.

It was my first time meeting Sasha. She seems really sweet. They are going to try to have a baby and asked for my help babysitting. I agreed. They're lucky I like babies.

Speaking of Billy...

He called to give me his new phone number and we talked for an hour. He broke up with Lindsey after three years with her. The breakup was full of drama and both physical and mental pain. But that's his story to tell. Suffice it to say, he had to go to the emergency room because she assaulted him badly enough that he needs eye surgery. 

Today Bandit and I went outside and I did yard work. Pulled out the Romas, put away most of the landscape cloth, mowed the area where the picnic table had been most of the year and raked grass from Friday's mowing.

Earlier in the week I did some serious weeding in the rear and side foundation beds. Still need to do the front and to dead head the zinnias out front.

Also moved most of the outside plants back inside after cleaning the bamboo plant stand. The cats will probably be chasing bugs around for a while because I didn't water them that well before moving them.

Yee-haw. Let the good times roll.

September 6, 2020. Labor Day Monday.

Yesterday was a relaxing day for me. Thought about what project to work on next. Had planned on making a couple prayer flag/wall hangings for personal use. Now I'm just not sure what to do. 

Looked through the embroidery projects. Pulled two out to think about. The crewel one is a go-to because I don't have all the necessary supplies. The regular embroidery needs an element removed before it gets worked on.

Truth is the weather has cooled enough the mosquitoes have died back a bit, so working outside doesn't mean a constant bombardment. It's also a reminder that Winter is right around the corner. Need to finish getting the shed switched around  so the roll top desk and, maybe, the hutch can be moved out of the house. Would like to move the sewing machine inside.

Not looking forward to the physical labor, but it's got to be done.

Miller's Farm Market has tomatoes on sale and I need to can some up soon. Was thinking about putting up some green beans too, but TOPS is having a stock up sale and I'm going to buy their brand at $0.49 a can. Worth it not to have all that work ahead of me. 

Have been waking up at 3 a.m. for the past several nights. Takes about ninety minutes to get back to sleep. Insomnia is so much fun.

September 3, 2021. Friday.

Well, tomorrow is the big party and, truth be told, I've been stressing out about going. Not the drive over and back so much. Mostly being around strangers in the midst of a pandemic. Social anxiety is so much fun.

W picked Fall strawberries yesterday and gave me three quarts for jam. Had already canned ten jars of plum jam yesterday. He's always doing sweet little things like that for me. His friendship is a blessing.

Thankfully the weather has cooled enough that the A/C doesn't have to be on while cooking. Might turn the oven on this morning for a half hour or so to take the chill off the house. Overnight temperature dropped down to 46 degrees.

Promised W fresh beef on wick for lunch. Don't have to put the roast in the oven until about 10 (it's a small two pound roast). He wants mashed potatoes and corn to go with it. 

Still have to clean out the car, gather the camp chair and fill up with gas before nightfall.

Guess I'll het started on washing and heating jars for the strawberry jam.

May your day be filled with joy.