Small Print.

 Someone's old eyes don't do all that well with normal-small print any longer. A book on paper does not have the back lighting or the option to enlarge print like a tablet or Kindle. Gripe, natter, moan, groan, and otherwise fritter away time wondering how folks ever got along with just plain printed pages. Connie gave me a light that has a magnifying page built into the post of the light. But it still bothers me. Could be that some old person just needs to watch movies instead of reading non-stop for days at a time. 

Just finished a cup of turmeric tea. Decided to check out online to see how it was pronounced. Tyou meric is the way it is pronounced, not emphasizing the first "r" in the word. So many times my words don't come out the way they are phonetically used in the dictionary because they have only been read and not used by others in language around me. Had to look up another word today. Kinda thought it meant perceptive, but wanted to be sure. And it was. Just a fancy way of saying someone is pretty sharp. Hanan used to keep me on my toes asking the meaning of words that he would read or think about. Have gone to bed a few times and have awakened with a word for which the meaning just escaped. Used to keep a dictionary by my bed years ago, but not any longer. Now the head goes down and the eyes close--at least until a certain dog whimpers about the temperature in the bedroom. Thompson often has to have a blanket during the night. If he would sleep in the crate, he would stay warmer, but he wants next to me or at least on my feet. Such is life around here.

Had a cast iron skillet with salmon and stir fry veggies in it simmering while the hot and sour egg drop soup finished. Took a bowl of the soup into the living room and dumped it in my lap. Did not use bad language for once. It was simply too hot to express that surprise and pain. Had to strip my pants off right then and there and throw the chair cover in the washer. Son of a pistol that stuff was hot! Put some cream on my left leg in the crotch area and told myself how stupid that move was. Eat in the kitchen! No dogs or other disasters waiting to happen. Normally, anyway. 

The FedEx man brought a box today that contained my Thanksgiving dinner dessert: pecan pie. Jim and Sharon Dickerson will be here Saturday if nothing rips, rears, or ravels, so maybe they will have a piece with me. It is not sugar free, but maybe Jim will eat a tiny bit even though he tries to stay away from sugar. Really liked the packing they put in the box to keep the pie cool. Two frozen blocks of ice in those little containers inside an aluminum envelope kept it from thawing. Anyway, looking forward to pecan pie. Thought about buying a turkey, but that is just a bit too much. Have plenty of other stuff to eat. Maybe some beans.

The wind is still blowing, but at least it is not as bad as it was this morning. Maybe it will lay tonight and not be so bad tomorrow. The wind dries everything out so badly. Had to water my hollyhock plant out front. Should have watered the asparagus, too, probably. It does not take long to water the few things that are still alive. Have some flowers blooming that make me smile. Don't want them in the house, mind you, but love seeing them waving out there in the flower bed.

Saw a wren in the birdhouse on the front porch today. Not sure what he/she was doing, but maybe checking out a future home? That would certainly be nice. She/he tried last spring, but something scared her away. The box is pretty open on the front side, so maybe it was just too gapped for her. We will see. Thinking about birds that look like sparrows: Lewis used to call ALL birds sparrows even though he knew better. He had learned most of their names, but he just said sparrow to get my goat. He would even say things like "see that red SPARROW." Just nod my head and laugh. But the doves, that was a different story. Won't say here what he claimed that they were saying the spring when he died. Suffice it to say that he claimed that they were saying that a part of their anatomy was hurting. Listen to them sometime when they are really calling and you will hear what he heard.

Sweet Jennifer has been cleaning out offices upstairs at H&O. She has something like 22 boxes ready to be shredded. They have been paperless since 2007, so anything before that has to be shredded. THEN she wants to move Gary's office upstairs so that it will be quieter and less likely to find folks messing with him when he is working on a project. No way would most of us be able to do the kind of computer programming he does to work with metal pieces for tool dies. It boggles my mind just to watch their humongous machines shaving teeny tiny bits of metal off these slabs. The pieces of metal have to be put in place with one of those hoist things. Guess they have to be removed in the same manner. Not sure. So glad he knows what he is doing. 

Jenn said that two more of the Anderson family have come down with Covid, but at least this is not in Art's house. So far Sunny and their youngest son have not been affected, at least have not contracted the virus. Just praying that none of Lance's family gets this mess. 

A motorcycle police officer was down at the end of our street today. Think he was watching the traffic go into the State Hospital. They are so stupidly dangerous driving down the middle of the road as if it is a third lane instead of a turn lane. Yours truly tries not to go anywhere anyway, but especially not when it is time for a shift change or noon meal run over there. Not sure if the patients or the employees are more dangerous.

It's almost time to put up my birds. Waiting until it is semi-dark means none of them have to be picked up and talked to about getting on the roost where they belong. The ones that stay in the front coop go inside early. Think they are picky about who sits where on the roosts. At least that is what happened when the Hamburgs were still here. Speaking of which--guess who no longer has to get up and let the Hamburgs back in the yard six times a day! Hope they are giving BR eggs and not just a hard time.

Looked out the front window at the little air spinner that my dad made for me. Wish it were a real wind charger like he said they had out on the farm. Surely it could be made again today, but not by an old woman who is not very mechanically inclined. Have seen them on YouTube, but yours truly would never get it made. Kinda like learning to knit. Not happening. Someone like Hanan or Roger Thonton could probably do it, however. Or Joe Malay. Some of these guys are just so very talented.

Don't really know much today. Staying off of FB and just reading a bit in the Jerusalem Post helps me stay semi-sane. Have three little plants that need to be given away that are posted in the WF plants site. Eve's Necklace is a very pretty bushy tree. The flowers of the blooms smell wonderful. The "beads" that are the necklace have a tendency to drop beneath it and come up, however. The other bad thing is that each part of the danged tree is poisonous. SO, not around dogs, children, or birds, goats, horses, or anything that might ingest the parts. To see what it looks like, just look it up on the internet. It really is a pretty tree. Gave the one that grew out here to Jerry, and it is doing great in his yard. If you want one, let me know if you live close enough to get one from here.

We know that we are so very blessed to have peace and relative safety in this nation. Pray for those in the areas torn up by hurricanes, floods, fires, volcanoes, and earthquakes. Then remember those ravaged by this virus. Rest well, my friends. You are loved.