I was so frustrated with losing my "Still Waters" entry, and in no mood to retype --- I went online and ordered 3 new Kindle books from Amazon.  Even though I have all these old favorites to work through, including a Dianne Wynne Jones anthology I don't remember buying!

Still trying to figure out where three of my Tony Hillerman's went....

Hello March!

Husband forgot to take into account the 50% increase in the state vehicle registration fees when making the budget for this month, so we are on Extreme Frugality measures until the 20th.

Ugh.

Well, I won't lack for reading materials, that's for sure. Cleaning the computer room and installing the bookcases (not new, they've been stashed unassembled under one of the living room tables for the past ?? years) has unearthed BOXES of books which we hadn't exactly forgotten we possessed, we just weren't sure where they were ... although I'm pretty certain I used to have all three of the original Tony Hillerman "Lt. Leaphorn" novels and can only account for two of them, and I know that one of the Alisa Craig paperbacks was discarded with severe water damage shortly before the move -- I've been trying to replace it ever since! Trying to sort and shelve is taking longer than I thought it would, because I keep seeing old favorites and wanting to sit down and read...

Still haven't found the Mackinac Island sweatshirt. I thought for sure it would turn up in there.

Beldandy has been doing well with the new anti-arthritis and joint supplements the canine chiropractor recommended. NOT steroids -- I will never knowingly give my Chows steroids, after Chani's bad reaction so many years ago. I sat up all night with her, holding her so she could breathe -- thought we were going to lose her. Our vet at the time didn't think it was the arthritis medication, but I didn't believe it was coincidence that we had just started using it that week. Later, a dog breeder friend (waves at reziac) confirmed that it WAS quite likely a reaction to the steroid component and that I should toss the remainder of the pills -- I already had, of course. ANYWAY, Bel is due for another visit to the chiro next week (already budgeted for, with the Cash Stash) -- I do need to find a cheaper way to get those pills down her throat; pill pockets are pricey, and so is deli lunch meat!

Gave some of the excess yarn to our friend J. -- she doesn't knit or crochet, but one of her friends from church does. Found a couple of half-finished prayer shawl projects, and fortunately also found the instructions and most of the yarns involved. Once I've completed my current 'leaf motif' shawl (about 2/3rds done), I'll get to work on them.

OH! I ALSO found some of the print-outs I'd made long ago of my WIP stories! If I can find the time, I'll start re-typing them into the computer.... and I discovered that when WINDOWS at work updated last time, it somehow put my sound on "MUTE". So that's fixed, too.

... Probably because of the post- Thanksgiving snow.

Wow, last week was great! Three of my long-time friends from LJ turned up suddenly; I'm sorry that the recent Tumblr problems seem to be the catalyst, but I can't help being glad. mister_terrific, nenya85, and imagines  -- so good to see you all....  Actually, all three of you predate my LJ involvement, so that's twice we've re-connected..... It would be wonderful if more of the old crowd from Doctor Who, RGB  and YGO fandoms showed up eventually, but for now I'll count my blessings.

ETA: And dragondancer5150  turned up Tuesday after being MIA for about 8 months.... *waves 'Hi!'*

I spent part of this past weekend getting odd looks from passing drivers, because of the HUGE Toy Bear in Adric's back seat.  Husband and I picked him up Thursday evening at COSTCO as a 'we love you' present for a friend who has had a rough time ever since her husband passed away two years ago -- most recently undergoing chemotherapy for cancer.  The Bear pretty much stayed in the car overnight and during the day on Friday, because we really had nowhere else to stash him, although Friday night he had to come inside because Husband and I went out for supper with friends.  J's reaction when Husband gave her The Bear Saturday night --- first she laughed, almost ROTFL, then she cried a little, and then she started laughing again while Husband  had a pseudo conversation with The Bear about whether he thought we needed to buy more honey next time we shopped for groceries. That was a BIG Toy Bear; he would have been taller than Husband if he'd been standing up!  J thought he was wonderful.

As I mentioned to someone recently, I tried to clear out our manga closet not that long ago with the intention of taking the manga that we (make that 'I', because I don't dare touch Husband's collection) no longer had an interest in (mostly discontinued by American publishers, or Yaoi which I am now a bit embarrassed in that I acquired so much of it), and take the various titles in to Books A Million' s used book buyer.  This past weekend I managed to purge the rest of the shelves and hauled away three large totes and two smaller bags nearly overflowing.  The B.A.M. person took them all, including the 'Boys Love' books, which surprised me a bit.... $37 worth, which promptly went into the Christmas Shopping billfold.  I sort of wish Husband would go through HIS stacks -- at least one or two of them.... it's so tempting to say,"'He'll never miss these; probably doesn't even remember he has them", but knowing him he'd ask me 6 months from now if I 'd  seen such and such, and I've always been a lousy liar.  Better not to go there.

On the family front: Husband is currently on his annual 'Use it or Lose it' vacation time, and trying to catch up on his sleep again before January.  Daughter has been working an average of three days a week -- the company won't assign more hours because then they'd have to pay benefits to Full Time employees.... Youngest Sister and her Husband came up to Mom's for Thanksgiving because Da Niece went to her boyfriend's parents, and Da Nephew was doing the away-game marching band thing in West Virginia, I think it was.... We had a long day, because first we went up to Aunt Marie's, then swung down and around to Mom's for Supper.  Older Sister and Younger Sister were there as well, and it was generally a pretty good family visit.  

On the knitting front: Currently have a cowl for Friend S, plus the second of a pair of slipper socks for Older Sister on the needles; both intended for Christmas prezzies. 3 hats, two pairs of mittens, and two pairs of socks ended up of the PW Mitten (& Socks & Hats) Tree.  I need more practice (and simpler patterns) with the socks, I think.  That second pair looked a bit odd, but hopefully it will fit someone. I have  SO  MUCH  YARN  its not funny!  And it seems like every time I try to clean, I find MORE!!!

Books: Older sister gave me a bag of books to take to the Used Book Store, and of course I went through them first.  A bunch of supernatural romances (which I'm not interested in) and volumes 1 through 6 of Naomi Novik's 'Temeraire' series (did I spell that right?) which were once described to me as "Dragonriders of Pern meet the Sharpe Saga". Well, they aren't, which is good, because that description, left me going 'meh'; they aren't too bad, actually. Another series I've discovered are by Alan Bradley  -- which I've described to others as being like "Wednesday Addams does the 'Miss Marple' thing".... 

Can't really think of anything else to add right now.  

Love you all!!!

 Well, here we are -- tomorrow is officially the 1st day of Summer..... but it has already been both wretchedly hot, and rainy.... and the Hispanic Americans in our neighborhood have ALREADY started with the firecrackers and fireworks.... I have no problem with ethnic groups other than my own (cough* TRUMP* cough) in general, but for the love of God, people!  Have some consideration for the domesticated creatures who share our living areas!  Jethro absolutely refuses to go outside if he hears firecrackers in the evening; which usually results in an unauthorized deposit on the living room rug.  Which I then have to clean up in the morning. I realize that it's part of their cultural heritage to celebrate loudly, but must they do it so often?

Sigh.

Still on the Frugal Living Plan.  We managed to get the June Property Tax installment paid, but are now saving up for the August & September installments. Husband has not had the usual seasonal overtime at work this year; things at the plant have been unusually slow for the past six months.... and some of the newer hires have been 'temporarily' laid off.  My hours are still reduced as well. I actually wouldn't mind so much, since it gives me more leeway when scheduling doctor's appointments and such, and I honestly don't really need even 30 hours most of the time to get my normal week's work done.... but it would really be nice if the Finance team and Session could see their way to a COL pay raise this year?

Belldandy gave me a scare towards the end of May!  We never DID figure out exactly how or what happened, but Jethro and Bel had one of their RAWRS, and then there was a yelp, and suddenly Bel was pawing frantically at the right side of her muzzle!  Husband grabbed Jethro and shoved him outside on the tie-out, and I tried to calm Bel down and see what the problem was.....there was blood from her lower jaw, and a very incomplete look inside her mouth left me with dented fingers (but no punctures) and the horrified impression that Bel had somehow lost her right front canine fang -- either completely gone, or broken off and swallowed.  This occurred on Saturday night.  I managed to calm Bel down; she (mostly) stopped the  muzzle-pawing, and let me dab lightly at the bloody spot on her lower jaw.  Husband thought that maybe Jethro had bumped her and she'd bitten her own lip and that she'd be fine; but I was concerned because that Canine Tooth seemed to be missing! 

(Cue visions of Major Canine Dental Work swarming through my head, with NO handy Savings Bond available to help pay the bill this time!!!)

So, we kept a close eye on Bel for the rest of the weekend; she was drinking water, and even managed to eat some 'Moist & Meaty' soft food, but she still was oozing a bit of blood and occasional muzzle-pawing. First thing Monday morning, I called our Vet and explained the situation. She said to bring her right in, as they'd had a cancellation.  Poor Bel.  She does not like visiting the vet.  Shivering and shaking ensued.  Much to my relief, Husband was partly right -- Bel had somehow bitten through both her upper lip, and the bottom lip.  The upper lip was stuck to the Right upper Canine, essentially hiding it from casual viewing.  But the wounds were infected (I'd wanted to do something to treat the one I could see, but didn't know how and didn't want to be chomped again), so Bel received a ten-day course of anti-biotics and pain relief, and a Collar to discourage her from pawing at her muzzle while healing (the Collar didn't even last until noon; she kept banging into things and couldn't reach food and water while wearing it....). Even bigger relief, with the way our finances were tied up that month, the Vet allowed me to pay half (THANK HEAVENS there was still some credit on the Capital One Card!) and bill later for the rest.....  

Whew!  Bel is fine, now, except she apparently became accustomed to the hand-fed pills/M&M and soft canned foods twice a day.... and paws at my knee wanting her 'noms' every so often.

Um,  on a cheerier note, although we have not added any new plants to the back fence butterfly garden, the plants that survived from last year have certainly flourished: cone flowers, Joe Pye Weed, Milkweed, butterfly bush all doing splendidly.  No new residents of the Tree this year, nor wandering varmints, and the rabbits seem to be leaving the cone flowers alone.  We've seen so many lightning bugs this year after dark!  Makes me very happy.  Not so much the bees and the Monarchs yet.

I have now read all (except the last one) of Elizabeth Peters'  "Amelia Peabody" novels.  I waited until "The Painted Queen" came out in paperback, and it is now sitting at the top of the "to-read" book stack.  Did I mention that I finally renewed my Library Card?  I'd let it lapse after the move -- I can't believe it's been ten years!!!  On the knitting front, the Prayer Shawl ministry is on summer hiatus, so I am once again knitting hats for the children.  I came across a workable mitten pattern, too.  Not ready to try socks again, yet.

I might be going on a road trip with Mom in September to Ellis Island.  We'd talked about it last year, but it didn't materialize due to Mom having a sewer pipe problem last summer.

That's about it for now.  Later, Gators!

 Just a week until Thanksgiving -- what am I thankful for?  Mom still with us; Daughter showing an on-going interest in adult independence (if only Texas wasn't so far away!); the Goodyear credit card I qualified for back in February during the car brakes crises, which I managed to pay down by half just in time to re-spend on four badly needed tires for Adric, the Demon Malibu (still needs that gas tank sensor replaced!); the Astros beating the Dodgers; Husband NOT backing into the bicycle-riding homeless man in the dark and the Police believing Husband in the matter (between the Running out of Gas Incident, the Dog-Chomp, Vandalism at the Church, and Homeless Bicycle Man, we seem to be rapidly acquiring a 'first name' acquaintance with our local Police force.?!?) ...

Thankful that we have insurance, even though the co-pays and deductibles tripled and they want us to mail-order our medications instead of going through our local pharmacy.  

Because Mom is going to Youngest Sister's in Texas over Thanksgiving -- she wants to attend an Oklahoma University home game so she can see the Nephew in the halftime marching band -- we are going up to Woodstock to have turkey, etc. with Aunt Marie.  Which kind of leaves Older Sister on her lonesome (Younger Sister will probably go to  Her S.O.'s grandmothers'), which I feel bad about, so I will probably drive over that weekend to visit her.  I do sort of wish I'd had the spare income to go to TARDIS-Con since ANIME-zing!  this year was disappointing, but it has seriously been one thing after another this year (though not nearly as bad as a few of my friends -- wish I could have done more, my 'Polly-mio!)

On the knitting front:  I found a simple sock pattern, and am knitting at least one pair for the PW Mitten, Hat and Sock tree.  No major projects since Nephew's comforter and the shawl for our church Music Director.  Two almost finished hats, one for the tree, the other for Boy Friend Z.

Books read: I have been working my way, more or less chronologically, through Elizabeth Peters' 'Amelia Peabody' series; "Arabella of Mars" by David Levine (borrowed from Older Sister); "House of Four Winds", by Mercedes Lackey & ???. 

Also, manga: "Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid", "The Devil is a Part-Timer", "Food Wars".

Manga on order: "Kaza Hikaru" (finally! it's been 2 years!); 'Natsume's Book of Friends" (Jan. 2018), "The Ancient Magus' Bride" (Feb. 2018).

Guess that's pretty much it for now....

 Well, the Raccoon has apparently vacated our tree.  I'm a little sad -- it was mildly entertaining to peek through the knothole  and spy a ball of grey fur, or a pair of beady little eyes, or even on occasion, fur plus small foot sticking out of the knothole ....  At a guess, I'd say that the Raccoon decided that our neighborhood was a bit too noisy for its liking, what with the hippie neighbors (NOT US!!!) playing Neil Young and Oak Ridge Boys well into the night on the weekends, barking Jethro, lawn mowers, ambulances and police cars  next door (again, NOT US!!!).    The river, I might mention, is still very close to Flood Stage, despite it not raining locally for almost two weeks.

Nephew's afghan/blanket is most likely close to 2/3rds done. I have 16 inches to go, before I knit the end border, and then add borders to the long sides.  The total size, according to the directions, is 50" x 58".  

Confession Time: when I said in the last entry that I didn't have time to read, due to the knitting, it wasn't quite true.  When my fingers get tired and start cramping, I set the knitting aside and pick up a book for a while.  I have read "Song of the Lion", by Anne Hillerman,  and Season of the Hyena, by Paul Doherty, and re-read Chapel Noir by Carole Nelson Douglas.  My Husband is on a Dan Brown kick, and has been nagging at me to read The Lost Symbol.   Ummm, sorry, I really have no interest in reading about conspiracies involving the Masons.   Also, since Crunchyroll has been running Series 6 of "Natsume's Book of Friends", I've been re-reading the manga as I locate them (scattered throughout the house).  

Wretchedly hot weather.  Of course, it COULD be wretchedly hot and HUMID weather.... and probably will be soon.

Thank you, Lucidscreamer, for reminding me.....

Um.   Because I tend to spend my evenings knitting instead of reading these days, I don't seem to read as much as I used to.  However, I do get an hour for lunch, and I've gotten into the habit of setting a timer and reading for 20 minutes during my lunch hour (this of course depends on how much time gets eaten up with errands and fixing up something to actually eat). This seems to work best with anthologies and books that I've read before.  In this fashion I've re-read the first four (and in my opinion, the best) of Lillian Jackson Braun's "Cat Who -- " books, several of Charlotte MacLeod's 'Inspector Rhys',  'Peter Shandy' and 'Sarah Kelling' mysteries,  several of Laurie King's 'Mary Russell's,  a number of manga (Food Wars & Natsume's Book of Friends) and  the first three 'Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?' light novels.

Also, a book I borrowed from my Mom -- "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society" by Mary Anne Shaffer and Anne Barrows.  The novel is written in the epistolary style, which made it both easier and harder to put down at the end of 20 minutes.... It deals with the experiences of the Channel Islanders (between England and France) during the German occupation of WW2.  According to Mom, she's tracked some distant cousins from her father's (English) side of the family to the Channel islands, which made the novel feel somewhat personal.
 I will have to see if I can find a copy for my own. 

On  the knitting side, I finally finished a Sideways-knit Ruffled edge Shawl which I mistakenly thought would be a fairly quick knit - HAH!   I am almost finished with the Very Berry triangular shawl, despite running out of the yarn -- I have a partial skein of a heavier double weight in very similar shades which I am carefully de-twisting because I REFUSE to buy another whole skein when all I need  are another five - seven rows worth to finish! 

A sad note: Our local yarn Shop, 'The Naked Sheep Yarn Barn' went out of business last month.  It was only operational for seven months; I'm not certain exactly what happened, but I suspect that Cindy and Kelly tried to do too much too quickly (and Kelly being in the hospital for a month certainly didn't help).  I am now not allowed to buy any more yarn for at least six months (I managed to pick up at LOT of skeins during the GOoB sale) unless I absolutely need it to finish a current project.

Can anyone recommend a good Steampunk novel?  I've tried the series by Pip Ballantine, and didn't care for main characters at all (too stereotypical); also a series set in a Victorian era w/ magic which offered up Sherlock Holmes' long-lost niece from his mother's side of the family, but found the magic system too intrusive...  I guess what I'm looking for is something that reads like a cross between the Robert Downey Jr.. 'Sherlock Holmes' movies and 'King Solomon's Mines'   --- 

Whooo.

Last night it was storm sirens and wind, rivers running through the streets, a light show to rival July Fourth fireworks, and a 12-hour power outage.

Last weekend it was the Hepatitis A outbreak which has spawned at least two lawsuits so far, 20 confirmed cases and at least one false alarm, and nearly 4,000 free inoculations.

The weekend before? Torrential rain, rivers in the streets, a broken water main just down the street from us, and almost being evacuated due to a clumsy backhoe and a nicked gas line....

We've also had a nice crop of pole beans from the windmill, a handful of delicious little golden cherry tomatoes from the patio plant, and a nice purple bell pepper from the main garden.

I've re-read several of Elizabeth Peter's 'Jacqueline Kirby' mysteries (wish she'd write more!), four or five of the late Charlotte MacLeod's 'Kelling' series (wish there were more...waaaah!), a couple of Charlaine Harris's NON-'Sookie Stackhouse' books(acceptable, tho' I didn't care for the ending plot twist of 'A Fool and His Honey') and tried Carolyn Hanes' 'Them Bones' -- think I'll pass on the rest; the ghost of a former family slave being a supporting character was a bit off-putting.

Next week the Daughter gets to sign up for Fall Classes at the local community college. I can't wait.... (HUGE MAJOR SARCASM)

I have found/located approximately 90% of the books this family owns, including some I don't remember us owning. But the three books I really want to find - because they could help the Daughter with her English Literature project which is due this coming Friday? NO WHERE to be found!!!!

And what is driving me BONKERS is I keep finding books that had been in the same bookcases, and logically they SHOULD have been in one of those same boxes.... so WHY can't I find "Folktales of the British Isles", "Myths and Epics of the Middle Ages", and "Rabbit Kicked That Blood Clot Around and Other Stories of the Native Americans"????

*Beats head against bookcase*

You're packing your bag for that other desert island—the one with no electricity—what 5 books do you take with you?

1. The Riverside Shakespeare (honking HUGE volume that includes every play written or thought to be written by the Bard of Avon)

2. The complete annotated Sherlock Holmes (preferably the one w/the illustrations from The Strand Magazine)

3. The (illustrated by Kaja Foglio) Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox - Barry Hughart

4. "The Borders of Infinity" by Lois McMasters Bujold (actually, any of the Vorkosigan Saga trade paperback editions, which tend to include two or more of the novels; my preference would be 'Borders' or 'A Civil Campaign')

5. A 3-in-1 edition of "The Lord of the Rings"

(alternate picks: The Bible (King James Version), and The Chronicles of Narnia)