Speed Blogging, January 31, 2024

In an attempt to post more often and not overthink things, I will be doing speed blogging from time to time. I will blog for however long it is on my timer. Currently, that's 16 minutes. Read ahead for a bit of stream-of-consciousness posting. :) 

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Note: I haven't been taking many pictures recently, so pictures with this post are from this day 10 years ago, Jan. 2014.

Back when we had 4 kitties. Annie, Lucky, Lucy, and Leo.

I will have to stick to my timer today because I need to help Theo, who is locked out of his car. He is in the dentist's chair, so I have a few minutes before I have to leave. In the meantime, we have workmen here working on a loose tile in the kitchen. Ward will stay with them. Luckily, I don't go to work until later this afternoon, so I'm free to help.

I heard something the other day that had me making one of those "Well, in my day..." comments. Someone told me they were at a local brew pub and tried to pay with cash. Then, the employee said they didn't take cash. I was surprised to hear that. I know that most people use less cash these days by using a credit card or some form of electronic payment. But cash is what it's all based on! It seems like there should be some kind of regulation that businesses have to accept cash. I don't know how common this no-cash policy is. I do know a few people who only take Venmo for their handcrafted things, but that's different than an establishment where you can come in off the street. Anyway, times are a changin'.

Female cardinal

This past week has been busy. I worked more than usual, and we've had a few more extracurriculars than usual. Ward and I are basically introverts who sometimes find it an effort to socialize in unfamiliar places. But we try to do it anyway. Last weekend's big event was a line dancing party at the local American Legion Hall. We had no idea what to expect. Although we did know some people there, we spent most of the time by ourselves. That is, except for the other 150 people we were dancing with. It was a good fit for us, and we had fun. They spent the first two hours teaching dances, and the last hour was free dancing. And the experienced people knew just what dance to do for what song. 

Times up for now. Another time, I may talk more about me and dancing.

Until next time...

Getting Rid of Stuff

 We're in the middle of a decluttering effort at our house. I'm not sure how long it's going to last, but so far, it's going well. We have finished the cat things, our bedroom, and our bathroom and have started our files. After going through the tedious and difficult process of deciding what needed to go and what was going to stay, we still had to process what we were getting rid of. 

So far, we have gotten rid of three carloads of stuff, another seven big bags, and two boxes that were picked up. Here are the places where things have gone: vet's office, Humane Society, charity pickup, church thrift store, women's shelter, friends, recycling center, home recycling, the dump, and trash. 

I tried not to get too hung up on finding just the right fit for an item because that can be immobilizing. But I hoped that by donating something to the right place, it could still be used, or it wouldn't be a burden on someone else who would have to get rid of it because it really was trash. Also, we tried to coordinate our donation trips with other errands to be mindful of our time and gas.

So I said that I tried not to get too hung up on finding just the right place for things, but when you look at the list, maybe I did. Do find it hard to declutter? Do you worry about donating things to the right place, or do you say, "Good enough is good enough"?

Until next time...

Snowflakes

 

Recent snow in my neighborhood.

With snow covering most of the country, I think it's time again to share a poem Theo wrote when was a young boy. It's simple but describes fresh snowfall well. At least, I think so. (Of course, as his mother, I'm not biased. 😀)

Snowflakes

Snowflakes falling from the sky,
Landing softly on the ground,
Often times I wonder why,
They never ever make a sound.

Landing softly on the ground,

Snowflakes white and glistening,

Nothing ever to be found,

For someone who is listening.

Speed Blogging

 In an attempt to post more often and not overthink things, I will be doing some speed blogging from time to time. I will blog for however long it is on my timer. Currently, that's 16 minutes. I haven't been using the timer much today, but that's what's on it from the last time I used it. Without further ado...

Out the kitchen window

We have been having winter weather like much of the rest of the country. Luckily, we have not seen its extremes. This past week, we had a couple of snowfalls (maybe 8-9" total) with temps in the teens and high winds. Enough bad weather to cancel several things, including our dancing class on Monday night and the line dancing party we were going to go to on Friday. The latter has been rescheduled for next week.

We also missed a stargazing party at a local brewery because of the bitter cold and wind. There's another one scheduled for next month. Ward used to do these kinds of events where he would set up his telescope with others for people to look at different things in the night sky. I was so amazed the first time he showed me some of Jupiter's moons and the rings of Saturn. Maybe this will get him back into star gazing. His telescope has been packed up in the basement for several years. Sometimes, when I look at stars and think about what I'm actually seeing, my brain has a hard time comprehending the vastness of it all, and it sort of freaks me out. There. Now you know some more about my peculiarities. :)

I mentioned earlier that we had car problems and are getting a new car. After being unsuccessful last week, we tried again on Saturday to buy the car that had come in for us. After a couple of hours, they determined that the person who had to approve the paperwork wasn't in, and it would have to wait. Hopefully, we will have a new car by tomorrow evening.

Ward worked another puzzle this week. This one was 1000 pieces, and he completed it in just a few hours. Have I mentioned that Ward is good at puzzles? :)

I had been wanting to do some decluttering in the new year. We started with our bedroom and bathroom. I am happy to say that we have completed that area. We have looked through the closets, every drawer, shelf, and cabinet, gotten rid of what we didn't need, and reorganized the rest. One benefit of this exercise is that I found some things I had forgotten I had that I want to start wearing or using again. 

This weekend, we started on our office. I don't know how long this will take because an awful lot of papers can be crammed into a small space. And our space is not that small. I sorted two major folders today. It's just a drop in the bucket, but I feel pretty good about it. Ward and I usually have different ideas about what we want to keep, so part of the job is reaching a compromise on that.

Last night, we went out to dinner with my brother and sister-in-law. Wally and Theo came along since they hadn't seen them at Christmas. You may remember that "the boys," as I call them, both had COVID at Christmas. A good time was had by all. 

Today, I made a big pot of vegetable soup - always a favorite of mine. I was especially pleased because I was able to rescue a few things from the fridge and pantry. Other than that, we've been eating a lot of hummus, tzatziki, and crackers. 

The timer is beeping, so I guess my time's up for this post.

Until next time...

Mrs. Schoolcraft

Mrs. Schoolcraft

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I grew up in a small town in West Virginia. We lived on a short, hilly street, and directly across the street was a house much like ours - an older, two-story house. After a series of neighbors who lived there for a year or two, Clem and Donnie Schoolcraft moved in.

They were an elderly couple; at least, they seemed that way to me then, but when you're 12, everyone looks old. But if I had to guess, they were in their seventies. They had lived their whole life out in the country and moved to town for convenience as they got older. Mr. Schoolcraft didn't do much but sit quietly on the porch. Probably because his wife was such a talker. 

Mrs. Schoolcraft could talk non-stop, seemingly without taking a breath. She loved to talk with friends on the phone, people in the neighborhood, people at church, and people she saw at the store. She would go to visitations (sometimes called viewings or wakes) at the two funeral homes we had in town, whether or not she knew the person who had died or their family. She would go hoping to run into someone she knew because visitations often brought people into town that you might not usually see. When she talked with my mother, the drone of Mrs. Schoolcraft's voice would put my mother to sleep every time. We always smiled when we saw her nodding off.

Mrs. Schoolcraft was not only a talker but a hard worker. She always said that she wanted to wear out before she rusted out. The fact that she had a serious heart problem didn't slow her down a bit. Her house was immaculate, and she would regularly be seen on her porch roof washing her upstairs windows. 

And she loved flowers. Her porch and yard were full of bright flowers in the summer, and along with the flowers, she had huge ferns on her porch. She did all the work to keep her yard looking good, including trimming the hedge that grew along the side of her property. When she trimmed her hedge, it would go something like this. She would get out her electric hedge trimmer and start cutting. Then, at some point, she would cut the cord in half, and she would bring it over to my father, who would fix it. And it would work until the next time she trimmed the hedge. Mrs. Schoolcraft cut that cord every time she used the hedge trimmer.

I told you about Mrs. Schoolcraft because of what happened yesterday. I was shredding the large volume of vet bills we had accumulated, feeding them a few at a time until there was a jam. Upon further investigation, the jam was a metal rabies tag that had been taped to a bill that was stuck in the blades. I worked with it a bit until I took it to Ward to see if he could fix it, and he got the shredder working again after some work with screwdrivers and pliers. I was annoyed with the mistake I had made and checked the other papers to make sure that there were no other tags on the remaining papers. I started shredding again, and all was going well until the shredder jammed.  Again! And I am embarrassed to say that this time, I got two tags stuck in it at once. While I had checked the remaining papers, I did it more by feeling than by separating every single page. I sheepishly took the shredder back to Ward, who fixed it once again, although it took a lot longer this time.

So, as I made the same avoidable mistake, I thought about Mrs. Schoolcraft and how she cut the cord of her trimmer every time. And that made me smile through my embarrassment as I remembered her. 

So now I'm off to finish the shredding, and I want you to know that I have separated every single sheet of paper to check for any other shredding hazards that may be lurking. I know that will make Ward happy. 😉

Until next time...

Speed Blogging

 Or Stream of Consciousness for 14 minutes.

In an attempt to post more often and not overthink things, I will be doing some speed blogging from time to time. I will blog for however long it is on my timer. Currently, that's 14 minutes and 5 seconds. I have been using that amount today to move me along from task to task.

A recent puzzle Ward worked of Dolly Sods,
a beautiful area in eastern West Virginia.

Last week, our cat, Annie, died. Our last one. It's amazing how quiet and lonely the house feels now that she's gone, even though she was only a small cat who slept most of the time. Yet, Ward and I both feel the loneliness. Oh, well. It's all part of life.

We have started to go through our cat stuff since we won't be getting any more cats (allergy problems). We have thrown away some things, donated others, and cleaned others that will be donated soon. I've been calling around to rescue organizations to see what they could use. I know it's soon, but I want to move on and just remember the fun times of 40 years of having cats in our family.

Annie

In the meantime, we have been having major car problems to the point that we are buying a new car. A process that I find very stressful. We narrowed it down to three models, which we shopped for on Friday. After much discussion, we decided on what we wanted, and Ward was going to buy it on Saturday while I was at work. However, the three cars we saw on Friday were all sold by the time Ward got there on Saturday. We've put a deposit down, and they should get another one in a couple of weeks. BTW, car prices are ridiculous these days and are selling over the MSRP!

Today, we've had a much-needed quiet day working around the house. I am hoping to do some major decluttering this winter. We've started with our bathroom and plan to move on to our bedroom. I've been working a little at a time, cleaning out a drawer here and a shelf there. We're making progress and plan to continue. By doing it this way, the task doesn't seem so overwhelming. Ward went through his shirts a few days ago and found 20 to give away. He hasn't gone through them since he retired and only needs a few now. 

On the fun side, Ward and I signed up for 6 weeks of samba and rumba lessons at the local rec center. We had our first lesson last week. It was fun because I didn't worry too much about not getting it right. My main goal (as with exercise classes) is to generally move the same way as everyone else so I don't bump into anyone. The instructor has an accent that is hard to understand but is nice. The classes are a fun diversion.

We recently watched an excellent, feel-good movie called "Bank of Dave." It is about a rural Englishman who starts his own local bank and is the story of the little guy pitted against the big guys. It is based on a true story. Netflix made the movie, but we watched it on Amazon Prime for $3. I highly recommend it.

Okay, I just checked my timer because it seems like my time should be about up. Guess what? I forgot to press start. Oops!

Well, that's it for my speed blogging today. What have you been up to?

Until next time...

And Then There Were None

Annie, a few months ago.

 When I started this blog, we had four cats. Now we have none. Yesterday, we had to put Annie down. She had taken a turn for the worse, and it was time. Several years ago, I found out that I was allergic to cats, so we won't be getting any more. After 40 years of having cats, it is going to be a hard adjustment to make.

Annie (left) and her brother, Leo - the early days

We got Annie over twenty years ago when we adopted her and her littermate, Leo, from a pet rescue organization. They joined our other two cats, Lucky and Lucy.

Annie came into the household adventuresome and bossy. Among other things, she tried to take over the favorite spots of the older cats. This had mixed results. After a few months, the pecking order was finally established, and much to her chagrin, Annie was the Number Two cat.

When she didn't make gains in territory, she focused on eating. She soon figured out that I usually did the feeding, and she stuck to me like glue. Annie would always be the first one eating, pushing others out of the way if necessary, even though they each had their own bowl. She would bump my hand as I was pouring food so more would spill into the bowl. Then, if any food was left from the other cats, she would finish it. 

Annie in her heavier days.

Her competitive eating soon made her rather Garfield-like, but her size did not slow her down, however. She was still the loudest cat and the most aggressive hunter. She was always first on the scene when anything new came into the house. But she also loved her lap time and a scratch under her chin.

Annie slowed down over the years but was still eager to let you know when she wanted something. Her very expressive meows let you know that you should fill her food bowl or come sit down and pet her.

Annie still getting in trouble in her old age.

A few weeks ago, we discovered a rapidly growing tumor on her leg. Because of her age, removal was not an option. We watched as she kept going despite the discomfort she was having. However, yesterday, we found her having difficulty with her bodily functions and clearly in distress. We guessed that the tumor had spread to other parts of her body.

Making the decision to end a pet's suffering is always a difficult one, but Wally said something that helped. He visited over the weekend and noted even though Annie was definitely showing her age, she still had her personality. So when yesterday, she wasn't showing her "listen to me now" ways, we knew it was time. 

Goodbye, Annie. You were a great addition to the family, and you are sorely missed.

 

Ward's Been Busy

Ward has been interested in woodworking since he was a kid. However, most of his life he has not had much time to do more than read about it, but he always hoped that would change. And because of that hope, when we were shopping for houses before our last move, one of the requirements was that it had to have something he could use as a shop or a space where he could build one. This house came with an extra garage, so as soon as he saw it, he said, "Sold!"

Fast forward to a few years later, and Ward has been spending time in his workshop upgrading his equipment and honing his skills. Retirement has helped with that. He's happy, and I'm happy. And he's getting pretty good.

Here are some of the things he made for Christmas gifts this year.

This is a console table he made for Wally and Theo. They have a niche at their place where this table fits perfectly. (Painted pine base, maple top.)

A cutlery tote. (Cherry)

Kindling box filled with hardwood scraps. (Pine)

M&M dispenser. Ward's father always has peanut M&Ms around for visitors to enjoy, so Ward thought this dispenser would be fun for him. Peanut M&Ms are irregularly sized and shaped, so he had to go through several prototypes to find the best design. (Fir)

This was one of the earlier prototypes. It works great with regular M&Ms, but he is redesigning and putting a different base on it. I told him I wanted to keep this one. (Pine)

Next up, Ward is building a kitchen island for a friend. I want to get on his list because I have several things I want him to build.

Until next time...

2023 in Review, the Second Six Months

 

 As has become my tradition, I will look at what 2023 was like for me, according to my blog. Here it is, 2023- the second six months. (In case you're interested, here's the first six months.

July

We picked blueberries at Uncle Billy's house this month.

I began the month with a 4th of July post about when Ward's mother got her US citizenship. Later, I talked about a baby shower I was having and about Wally and Theo getting a new place. I ended the month with a travelog about the trip Ward and I took to Pennsylvania. And, as always, I featured what was growing in our yard. 

The highlight of the PA trip was a visit to The Ruins, an abandoned coal mine adorned with hundreds of mosaics.

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August

A volunteer sunflower planted by the birds.

I did six posts in August. In August, we took a day trip to Pennsylvania to visit Camp Micheax and found other interesting things along the way. I chronicled the odyssey of trying to find a new rug and did a meanderings post in which I talked about an eye patch I had to wear and tomatoes that needed to be processed. In addition, I did two focused posts - one about my perfectionism and one about coping with the overwhelming bad news we hear every day. And no month would be complete without some flower pictures.

One of the few structures still standing at Camp Micheax. 

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September

We had a surprise iris bloom in September.

I did seven posts in September. We began the month with a trip to West Virginia and Ohio for a family reunion. While there, we explored Marietta, the first settlement in the Northwest Territory. At the end of the month, I was chronicling a trip we took to Peaks of Otter Virgina. In between, I talked about singing and a broken apple tree branch. 

Flat Top Peak at Peaks of Otter.

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October

We hiked along Smith Mountain Lake during our VA vacation.

I did eight posts this month. The month began with a continuation of our trip to Virginia. Back home, Ward and I hiked at a local Audubon Sanctuary, and I blogged about being inspired to do more outdoor things in the cold after seeing a TV show focused on Maine. (BTW, still working on that goal. I don't like cold!) And I did a couple of posts where we were beginning to see signs of autumn.

The fall mums were blooming this month.

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November

Beautyberries were providing some November color in the yard.

I did five posts in November. Several of the posts this month involved the planning we did for our Thanksgiving dinner with 30 people. We had our credit card stolen, and we bought new furniture without fretting over it for a long time, as we had done in the past. Kris did a post telling us about her new cats.

Kris's cats, Pippa and Stuart

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December

It was short-lived, but we had our first snow of the season in December.

I finished up the year with 10 posts in December. Most of the posts this month talked about Christmas, including four posts featuring ornaments from our tree. On Christmas Day, I did a tribute to my mother. And on a non-Christmas topic, I mentioned the extremely long false eyelashes I had been seeing and wondered if anyone had any insights into this trend.

Ward sent me Christmas flowers at work.

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So there you have it - my Blogging Year, 2023, in review. I would call it a year of maintaining the blog posting about once a week. I didn't have regular features, but I did post many flower pictures, which may be my favorite kind of post. I continued to have writer's block as I was conflicted about rambling about my mundane everyday life and wanting to say something more meaningful or clever. And that resulted in me not posting anything at times. 

What does 2024 hold for Live and Learn? We shall see. Maybe I'll spend more time on the blog and write some meaningful regular posts here. Or perhaps you will get to hear more of my everyday ramblings. Tune in. :)

Until next time...

2023 in Review, The First Six Months

 As has become my tradition, I will look at what 2023 was like for me, according to my blog. Some day, if I give up on privacy issues, the review will be a more accurate picture of life as I know it. And sometimes, I wonder why I even bother about online privacy. I think Google already knows everything about me, and what they don't know, Amazon probably does. Anyone with a bit of time and inclination could figure out anything they wanted. But I digress. Here it is, 2023, according to my blog.

I didn't do a lot of posting this year, with a total of 73 for the year. Over the 12 years I've been blogging here, that number is just above my lowest year in 2017 when I did 70 posts. My highest year was in 2013, with a total of 278 posts. 

January

This is what I thought for most of my posts this month.
Source?

I did six posts this month, two of which were a review of 2022. Most of the posts were This and That with no central theme. We took a hike on New Year's Day, I worked on my Storyworth Stories (an autobiography of sorts), and I tried speed blogging to stop procrastinating and post something. That worked for that one time. I should try it some more now that I've been reminded of it. The one themed post I did was about being left-handed and directionally challenged.

This was the sign that inspired the post about being directionally challenged.

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February

Snowdrops were the 1st spring flower in our yard.

I did six posts this month, also. I was excited about seeing snowdrops, our first spring flowers, but I lamented that none of our crocuses were blooming like I had seen elsewhere. Ward and I took a trip to West Virginia and Virginia, and we celebrated Valentine's Day by doing couples yoga for something different. We visited our first parks in our quest to visit all of the parks in our town. 

A pocket park we visited in our town.

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March

I did four posts this month, and they mainly featured spring flowers. I was excited that spring had finally sprung.

The crocuses were blooming this month.

So was the ornamental plum.

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April

This month, I did five posts. There were a lot of pictures of the continuation of spring blooming around the yard. We celebrated Wally's birthday with a hike, and I was sprouting beans in baggies on a window in preparation for a STEM program I would do. I also summarized the driving trip that Ward and I took to Georgia and South Carolina to visit family and friends.

Our trip south included hiking to various waterfalls.

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May

Rhododendron were blooming.

I did four posts in May. I continued to feature the blooming flowers and the hazy skies we had from the Canadian wildfires. I did a review of Crumbl Cookies, and there was a tribute to our cat, Leo, who passed away this month. 

Leo

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June

Bee with pollen sac on tomato plant.

I did five posts in June. Along with the flowers, I showed vegetables that were growing. Also, I did a Father's Day tribute to my father and presented my father-in-law with a book I made for him chronicling his life. We took another hike with Wally.

Apples were growing for the first time on a tree we planted a few years before.

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Tune in next time for the next six months.

Time for "Happy New Year"

 

"Again, time elapsed."
― Carolyn Keene, The Secret of the Old Clock

Happy New Year!

Another year, another week, another day. Time is such an interesting thing. We use it to keep track of things as they pass, and sometimes, it's important, and sometimes, it's not. Some people can keep track of it easily, some can't. In some countries, the trains run on time. In other countries, they don't.

It has been measured using different standards by different cultures. 

Well, I was going to develop this post with interesting anecdotes (Wally and Theo stories) and with scholarly and philosophical ideas about time. I was going to discuss how different cultures use time (stories about Ward's background and mine). And I was going to finish up with a quiz about time.

But you know what? That takes a lot of thinking, and I'm not in the mood to tax my brain right now. 😀 Not to mention that it's time to go drop off one of Wally and Theo's gifts that Ward made. I'll show it in another post.

So until then, I hope you are having a relaxing day and thinking about all of the great possibilities ahead in 2024.