snippets of life around here

Happy Halloween! I did a post in 2010 on the kids' Halloween costumes spanning 10 years, almost all of which I made, so if you want to see their choices, go here.

More butterflies out there Sunday on that clear blue sky warming day. Not nearly the quantity but nearly the same variation as last week, mostly fritillaries, monarchs, 

and long tails but also pipevine swallowtails, a giant swallowtail, a very tattered buckeye, a gray hairstreak, a great purple hairstreak that flashed iridescent blue in flight (first time to see this one),

cloudless sulfurs, skippers, a julia, definitely a queen, and one or two others, maybe a different long tail and a silvery skipper neither of which I could get a good picture of or the queen or the giant swallowtail. And bees, lots of bees including this different one, also not a very good picture as it moved just as I tapped the button.

Speaking of bees, these tiny things were all over the sword leaf blooms and while they look like bees they are actually hover flies.

This caterpillar was crawling across the mat outside the garage door. I have no idea what it is but it was over 3” long. The closest I've come to identifying it is an imperial moth caterpillar.

Moving on from butterflies to a succulent bloom about an inch in diameter.

The confederate roses are almost done.

Cat wants to be part of the puppy pile but Minnie is wary. That lump to Cat's left is Minnie under the blanket. Cat has curled up touching us both. All is well until Minnie realizes that it is Cat up next to her.

Moving on from the natural world to the unnatural world, WTF are they thinking? Do clothing designers just hate women? A dress at the Evil Empire. What you can't really tell is that the neckline has a ruffled collar and the bottom 12” of this shapeless sack is a ruffle.

I have a new pair of yoga pants that is black with turquoise insets but no top to wear with them so while I was there I thought I would look to see if they had some kind of matching top so I could be chic and fashionable and I found this on the clearance rack, cost me all of $2.

Spied at SHARE, a donation from the Evil Empire (yes I have to give them credit for donating the stuff not fresh enough to sell instead of just throwing it away), a salad kit, see how nice and green the picture is,

flip it over and see what it really looks like. 

no success on the one hand but the box is coming along

My great niece is getting married the end of September. It's in the afternoon and dress is not casual but not dressy either. So Pam, the grandmother, and I went to a mall yesterday to try and find some nice dresses, something above shapeless wear around the house but below cocktail, plus we didn't want to spend a lot of money for dresses that would probably only get worn once. OMG. Needless to say we came away empty handed. The selection was dismal and everything was that stretchy synthetic slinky jersey which does our 70+ year old bodies no favors and the majority of everything was black or navy or orange large print and/or ruffled. If we wanted cocktail or formal, lots to choose from but a nice day dress, not so much. Pam found one dress that she liked enough on the hanger to bother trying on and, um, no. 

We passed one shop, several actually, that had some questionable garments. Like this.

I hate to call it a dress, well, actually I called it a 'fuck me' dress. If it was an inch shorter there would be no secrets, baby come on in, the door's open. How do you sit in something like that or bend over or even squat without showing off everything that's not already exposed? Or this one, the front of which had the entire midriff exposed.

Or the one I didn't take a picture of which was a top and long pants both of which were completely sheer. And, you know, I'm not a prude, if you want to go around nearly naked, I'm OK with that and I wore my share of mini-skirts in my youth. It's just that the clothes weren't even all that attractive. And then there were the short short Daisy Dukes with frayed hems and tears for $50. My advice is go to the thrift store, buy a faded pair of too small jeans, cut the legs off at the crotch, take a razor to what's left, throw them in the wash and you'll have the same thing for about $2.

Alrighty then.

Here's the body of the box de-molded.

And after being washed with vinegar. I think it came out a little darker than the sample but that seems to be how it goes these days.

And with the top and corals (nothing is permanently attached) so we can see how it's shaping up.

Tomorrow I'll start grinding the excess off the bottom of the box and the rest of the excess off the inlay. Then it's polishing all the pieces that need it, fitting the inlay, fitting the feet, and glueing it all together. Fortunately starting tomorrow high temps will only be in the low 90s for the next week.

That little bit of rain we got last week caused the yellow rain lilies to pop out yesterday. This is the most I've ever had.

 

short stories part whatever

What Goes Around Comes Around

My daughter and son-in-law dropped by on their way home Tuesday evening to pick up the peaches I bought for her. Guess who's moving back in, they asked. Their son, my grandson Mikey, and pregnant girlfriend, Audra, can't afford their apartment and so are 'temporarily' moving back in with the parents out here. Yeah, I remember another young couple with a nine month old and pregnant with twins who asked to move back home, I told her. At least we had our own house, she says. (For those unaware, we had our house and the house next door that I used for studio space at the time. They eventually bought the house from us and with that money we bought the house out here.)

Those Are Not Clothes

I looked at Marc the other day and he was dressed in ragged shorts with the torn hem hanging down and a ragged t-shirt with holes in it and then I looked down and my own thin t-shirt had holes in it though my shorts were in good condition but only because I had to retire the shorts I would have been wearing that should have been thrown away but were put in a 'maybe I can mend them' pile instead. In our defense I can say that there was a possibility of work that day. Those are not clothes, our daughter said when she saw him. He pointed to me. Those are not clothes either, she says. Clearly it's time to retire the lowest tier.

The Long Walk

I finally let Minnie lead me down the next street parallel to ours. We have various long walks. The long walk includes the short walk which is to the other end of our long street and back and in the sun at this time of year which in high summer is usually plenty for her. Sometimes the long walk includes the next street over to the end and back also in the sun or to the second street over and back in the shade. Today though there was a big cloud in the sky when we walked so I relented when she turned to go down the next street over.

An Afternoon At The Beach – part 1

Sunday morning I got a text from my daughter Sarah...want to go to the beach with us for a couple of hours? Us being her, grandgirl Jade, and grandgirl-in-law Audra. Hottest part of the day in August, (not my favorite time) but it's probably been a couple of years since I've been to the beach, so yeah. We got there around 2 PM, set out the chairs, slathered on sunscreen. It wasn't as bad as I feared, there was a nice breeze but not too windy, lots of people out enjoying the day. On the way home we stopped at Buddy's Seafood Market and I got a pound of fresh caught shrimp which we had for dinner. I like to get my seafood from Buddy's as he's the catcher. I'd have got a flounder too but they weren't back with those yet, would be another hour but we'd be long gone by then.

Daughter Sarah, grandgirl Jade, grandgirl-in-law Audra, and soon to enter the world great grandgirl Paisley.

An Afternoon At The Beach – part 2

At one point a group of adults walked by carrying signs on stakes and we were curious what that was all about. Directly they came back with fewer signs on stakes and they pounded one in the sand in front of us and one of the men came over to explain. His daughter was going to get a proposal from her boyfriend and would we take pictures or video of her and him as they walked by and they would give us contact information to send it to. Sure, we said, what do they look like (she has long dark hair and he's wearing a ball cap which I thought described at least half the people on the beach). The signs were part of the set up and the sign in front of us said 'home is anywhere I am with you' I wondered if the last sign said Burma Shave. He walked back and then a woman walked over to give us the contact info and she was on the phone with her son (we gathered) giving him instructions...park the car, walk to the beach, turn left. She was throwing f bombs all over the place, oh, my kind of woman, I piped up, she did not like the girl's dad. First time I met the guy, have only been around him for an hour and he's a fucking asshole (there was more along these lines). So we kept an eye out and directly a couple that looked like it must be them walked by and it didn't look like she was even looking at the signs much less reading them. Never even paused. But, yes it was them, the father came and retrieved all the signs (have you seen the cost of lumber he says) and yes, she said 'yes'.

An Afternoon At The Beach – part 3

We were highly amused at the large group next to us trying to erect a volleyball net in the wet sand exposed by low tide (and the tide had turned and was coming back in). First they tried plunging the poles in the sand, then they brought out ropes for guy wires, then they tried pounding in the 4 inch in diameter flat on the bottom poles while standing on a bucket. Then they tried shortening the net by rolling up one end, then they moved it away from the water a little bit (I guess they noticed the tide was coming in) and tried pounding the poles into the drier sand. When that didn't work the big guy pushed the small guy out of the way and tried to the same effect. They finally gave up and rolled the net up. They might have been successful if the poles were pointed at the bottom. A short time later they started packing up and since it was 5 PM, we did too as Jade had to drive back to San Antonio that night. 

a rant, more doctor shit, and attempted sedition

Well, dammitall. My new jeans arrived yesterday and they are, as I suspected they would be, the stretchy 505s. After I posted about ordering the jeans I looked at the label in my stretchy pair and it's the same in the pair that arrived yesterday...

this is the label from my older non-stretchy pair...

so once again a perfectly fine product has been changed into a not fine product. Why the fuck do women's clothes makers think that all women want stretchy pants and stretchy shirts for that matter. Couldn't they have just left 505s alone and introduced a new product? And now I'm glad I didn't buy two pairs. So now the hunt for decent jeans is on again. Am I going to have to go back to wearing men's jeans which I did for decades because I could not find a pair of women's jeans that weren't 4” too long (no, not every woman wears 4” heels all the time), weren't cinched in at the waist or so low riding they barely covered my pubic bone, weren't covered with spangly shit, or stretchy. I want my jeans the right length, the waist just above my hip bones, and not stretchy or spangly or pre-torn. Why is that so fucking impossible?

This is my month for doctor appointments I guess, get them all over with at once, so Wednesday was my follow-up with the electrophysiologist. Since the afib has settled down, especially since the election, he is content to keep the status quo so I don't see him for another six months unless it starts acting up again. Don't wait til the next appointment and to call if I start having problems, he tells me, we are partners here you and I, he says.

Next Tuesday is my dermatologist appointment but January 21^st is the soonest I could get the bone density scan scheduled. What I'm not getting this year is the boob smushing as my PCP says I only need one every other year so yay for that.

I'm not even going to address the unbelievable and unthinkable, as it was pre-Trump, lawsuit petition to the Supreme Court by Texas' AG Paxton to overturn the election results in Georgia, Arizona, Wisconsin, and Michigan and the AGs from 17 other red states and 126 House Republicans as well as Trump himself that have submitted amicus briefs in support of the petition to overturn a legal and secure election to appoint Trump as the winner after over 50 lawsuits have been thrown out of court for lack of one iota of evidence or proof of fraud. Even Barr has said there was no fraud. So many republicans willing and ready to commit sedition because their guy lost. It remains to be seen if the Supreme Court is just as willing to commit sedition and throw our democracy and constitution to the wolves.

edit: the Supreme Court turned them down.

And you know, they aren't contesting every vote on a ballot that went for Biden for president since they are perfectly happy with the votes that got them elected or re-elected to the House and Senate. Apparently only votes for Biden are fraudulent but the down ballot votes for republicans are all on the up and up. And where does Texas get off contesting how other states ran their elections?  yes, I'm a Texan but not all of us are crazy or stupid   No place, there is no train or bus stop for that destination. Paxton is being investigated for criminal activity and the FBI subpoenaed records from his office the day before he filed his petition so the conventional wisdom is that he's angling for a pardon from Trump by showing his loyalty with this ridiculous lawsuit.

And Melania apparently had a member of her staff check to see if there was a government budget dedicated to paying the expense of their move out of the White House (there isn't). OK, that's enough of something I wasn't going to write about.

So ending up with a few critter pictures piling up...this little rat snake was sheltering under one of the cookie sheets I use to put the pots on inside,

I have many bird houses that mostly the birds don't use but the frogs like them,

wasps are pollinators too,

and Big Mama coming to see if I had food (I did not).

obsessing over packing and other distractions

My medium sized suitcase is bigger than I need and my small, carry-on size is too small. Small suitcase and backpack would be enough but no extra space if I buy stuff and want to bring it back. Small suitcase plus backpack plus shoulder/carry bag would give me more room...check small bag, carry on backpack and shoulder bag. My sister has a medium sized bag that is a bit smaller than my medium so I'm going to add it into the mix. What I want is the smallest checked bag I can get away with and carry-on backpack giving me enough room for items I may want to bring back. Volume of space is a major consideration since five of us will share the car for the first two weeks. And apparently they don't have big cars in Portugal, or even Europe. The whole world is not like Texas where the road is open and vast and things are big, even now.

And so, because we are bleeding money over this remodel/recovery and somehow that has made us think that well, hell, as long as the spending is out of control, why the fuck not, I bought two new lightweight long sleeve shirts today that aren't basic or 20 fucking years old (that's how often I wear 'nice' clothing it lasts that long) or torn or missing a button. They are still V-neck pullovers with regular sleeves which is a thing since apparently belled sleeves are now back in fashion and I didn't like them then to begin with, but they both have lace! And one of them is a light sort of mint green. The other is my comfortable gray.

Gray is not a color, my daughter tells me, when I say it's my favorite. I wear gray a lot. I don't wear white (well, yes I do have one white blouse) because I'm up front and personal with life. I wipe my hands on my pants. I get around messy stuff. I don't have the interest needed for keeping white white. I don't wear black because it was ingrained in me early, black in clothing was not allowed by my father who associated it with death, but even though I long ago outgrew that restriction, it has still been a rare choice for me. Besides, gray reflects my belief that there are no absolutes, it's all shades of gray.

So two new shirts replace two old shirts. And I got notification that the last of my ordered items, in this case the jeans, did indeed arrive in time but I must go pick them up at the store and then wash all the sizing out of all the new items.

In the not packing news department, the garden has just exploded in the last week or so, easily more than twice as big as two weeks ago, just in time for me to leave.

And I went and picked up my lamp and the two bedside tables from the antique store yesterday since she has decided to close it again because no customers and she has better things to do with her time than sit in the store two days every week.

I love this lamp with it's main bulb and three candle lights and the blue glass ornament on the pole and I'm pretty sure the onyx base lights up too because there are three switches though I haven't figured out how to open it up to change the bulb. Surely it opens so the bulb can be replaced.

And the bedside tables are so cool even though someone did paint them black. The bottom section pulls out, to provide a step up to the bed?

Now all I need is a bed to go with them.

two ordeals

We went to see the Martian on Friday. First showing on opening day is how we like to do it. No crowds, great seats.

You might remember that I read the book and reviewed it in last spring's list. Back when I was still reading. Which hasn't improved that much since so far this quarter I've only read one book. Granted that book was 839 (numbered) pages. But it's also misleading as there were a fair number of pages with just a few words on them and large type faces and double spacing and, well, you'll read all about it later.

So, back to The Martian, a great book, which I recommend everyone reading, and a great movie. The movie was long, 2 hours and 21 minutes, and even so they left out so much and the result of that is that I didn't feel like they adequately portrayed how clever the main character was or really what an ordeal he went through. They basically cut out the whole trip from the Ares 3 site to the Ares 4 site among other things and changed the ending a bit. But all that aside, Matt Damon did a great job and the visuals of Mars and in space are fantastic.

Go see it.

-----------

We're invited to a black tie wedding next weekend. I finally got around to heading into (small town but much bigger than Wharton) Rosenberg to the nearest shopping mecca because I needed a dress to wear. Well, that was a fucking ordeal...trying to buy a fancy dress in small town USA. 'Oh, you have to go to the mall for that' says one unhelpful clerk. Yeah, right. I avoided malls even when I lived in the city.

I did find a dress I like well enough at the ONE store that had any kind of fancy dresses (which as it turned out was the first store out of 5 that I went to and I bought as a fall back in case I couldn't find anything else and involved an altercation with the cashier because she didn't know what the fuck she was doing and when I tried to apologize for the misunderstanding on her part!, she walked off while I was speaking to her), shorter than I would have liked (just below my knees), but the alternative was going into the city.

I don't know if you can see the low scoopy drapiness of the front.

Then I decided, while I was at a different store, that I probably needed a bra or else be very careful not to lean over. I haven't worn a bra for 46 years, that's how small my boobs are (and calling them boobs is a bit of a stretch). I tried on one of those push up bras. Nothing happened. Alrighty then, no cleavage for you. Plus, I could not find a single bra size 36A in the store, had to settle for 34A. I'm sure watching me try on about 8 different bras was highly entertaining. It's a good thing no one else was in the changing rooms because I was being pretty vocal. So now I'm looking for one of those extensions my sister tells me they sell. Either that or some grosgrain ribbon and some eyes for the hooks. Oh well. I'll only have to wear it once.

Now I have the impossible before me...trying to find a pair of women's dress shoes with no heel, cause this girl does not wear high heels.

it's a freakin' miracle

I bought a pair of women's jeans last Friday that fit...everywhere. Straight leg but not toothpick, off the waist (but not at my flippin' pubic bone), and, the most miraculous part of all, the exact right length! Perhaps someone has finally figured out that not all women wear 6” spike heels with their bluejeans.

I haven't been able to buy a pair of women's jeans that fit since I outgrew skin tight size 7 junior. Size 7 junior is now size 3 junior I think. Gotta love the fashion industry.  Don't like that size 9 tag? No problem. Voila, 9 is now 5!

Anyway, after I snagged my man and quit going to bars and clubs I decided comfort was the highest criteria. No more skin tight skinny jeans for me.

Actually, what happened was that I had kids.

That'll kick you out of the junior department faster than you can blink.

It also kicked me out of the women's department as far as jeans went. Or pants of any kind.

Cause I have certain requirements. Like not cinched at my waist. I hate things at my waist cause my waist has never been as small as the fashion industry thinks it should be. And not tight. I want to be able to breathe and move and bend over and sit...comfortably. And I want them the right fucking length! Is that too much to ask for?

Apparently, it is.

So for the past 30+ years I've been buying Levis 501s in the men's department. They hit me at the hip and I can buy them by waist and length, (hear that women's fashion designers...by waist size and length). The only problem is that they are a bit baggy in the front and thigh.

I have, over the years, made forays into the ladies department looking for jeans and have always come away empty handed.

My last purchase of women's jeans which I bought several years ago were a compromise. They were only about 2” too long, being a 'short' (I am not a midget, at 5'4” I'm actually rather average); they hit below my hip bone, which was a little too low, but at least they weren't at my pubic bone; and they were a little stretchy for the comfort factor.

I couldn't keep them up.

I finally had to sew two strips of elastic onto the back inside waistband because after wearing them, with the legs turned up into cuffs, for an hour or so, I was constantly pulling them back up in place. Every time I stood up or walked more than half a dozen steps, they would have slipped down an inch or so.

I have high hopes for these. Granted, I haven't worn them beyond just trying them on and the denim is not as heavy weight as the Levis, but they should be fine for spring and fall.

I doubt I'll abandon my men's jeans altogether but it's nice to have a more feminine alternative for a change.