Fancy

"Show us your fancy pants!"

Those ruffle bottomed underwear put on small girls when I was small, along with the short fluffy dresses, were apparently a source of public amusement. When it was just aunts and female cousins, I have some memory of not minding at all. Up to a certain age, and I wonder now if that didn't coincide with the end of diapers. I do have some very early memories, so I wouldn't put it past me. The sort of underpants to cover those pads, seems possible. Having a fluffy butt, and flipping my skirt up to get it out of the way of the bustle-thing (with lace.)

I hated the short dresses, longed for the long skirts, full and swirly. Then the 60s came along in earnest, and that vanished as a possibility. I don't really understand why little girls were put in such silly short dresses. Cold legs and careful embarrassment all the time. My craving for dignity and elegance shot to pieces with pale pink nylon net ungenerously applied.

Smocked bodices were another weird thing, not bad as such, but incomprehensible as an ideal for me. Shaping technique? Texture sort of thing? Dunno, never seemed especially pretty or useful. A curiosity mostly.

These days, I think of clothes as basic covering in pleasant colors. Three new t-shirts, all gotten as premiums*, are of a very soft cheese-cloth material. They won't last long, but I love how buttery and light they are. The rest are all very sturdy Carhart shirts, mens. Long way from baby frills.





*A fiber internet company, a gift from the community gardens for the tour, and the museum/library trivia night win.

Turning

The work-bin enhanced compost is doing well. Even the avocado pits are starting to break down, I don't mind that they take a while. Got a good 5 gallon bucketsworth out of it, with my neighbor's grass clippings mixed in. Well sifted, tossed in around the strawberry plants - that are looking much happier these days.



The tomato plants are producing, but with a lot of dry dead leaves and stems. It's not been a great year for tomatoes here in some areas. We are getting them a few at a time, off and on. Next year, plant the pease, then put in the tomato plants among them at the end of May.

Doing a modified drip irrigation, which seems to work. A mere dribble with the sprinkler face down, forget it for an hour or two, make sure I turn it off before I turn in.


Beer traps for the pill bugs and earwigs, since they have been feasting on the bok choy and the strawberry leaves, little buggers.

Thumb bothering me since yesterday evening, so on with the brace and in with the nsaids. Off today, covering a shift Wednesday instead. Rather at odds.

Disappear

Moby's always been good at disappearing.


"I know exactly where I am."





We had a good game last night, if not particularly high scoring. We agree on words we both know, with special acceptance of any really good words, however iffy.




Watched the finches for a long time this morning, they love the sunflower seeds, of which there are a plentitude. The scrub jays drop in a little later for the peanuts. Bees tend to prefer the late afternoon sun.

Arid

A dry time, sun low and hot, unexpected humidity, and an August garden. Paint to hold back pushy ivy. Watering spots of stolen moss, the tomatoes, the transplanted strawberry plants. Everything looking about done with summer.




The water stored in the recycle bin is long gone, recent rains were not enough to refill it. Doing a manual version of drip irrigation in the back, sprinkler face down, water barely on.

New residents and fellows, the resident anesthesia staff are causing the most heartburn this go round. Not much on the common sense and practical learning, not much for listening or efficiency. This is bad in a place with fast turnover times between cases, and the surgeons will make their unhappiness known. I step back and await fireworks.

Mostly Cloudy
90°F
32°C
Humidity 31%
Wind Speed NW 10 MPH
Barometer 30.13 in (1013.9 mb)
Dewpoint 55°F (13°C)
Visibility 10.00 mi
Heat Index 88°F (31°C)
Last update 15 Aug 1:53 pm MDT

Listless

Eleanor has not been hopping up on the bed the past few weeks, presumably some sort of Cat Agreement with Moby. But I've missed her. So I brought her in with me last night, and she seemed to enjoy snuggling into me. She didn't stay very long, but that's her choice. I think she returned at some point.

One of those restless nights, when I woke about 1300 and didn't seem to actually sleep, although I'm sure I actually did, until the wee hours. The alarm caught me in deep sleep, so I waited for the second chime as I moved my aching joints into shape.

Hot, and for here, rather humid feeling. Maybe just because we are not acclimated to a hot summer.

Partly Cloudy
98°F
37°C
Humidity 17%
Wind Speed SSE 17 G 24 MPH
Barometer 30.01 in (1009.3 mb)
Dewpoint 46°F (8°C)
Visibility 10.00 mi
Heat Index 94°F (34°C)
Last update 14 Aug 5:53 pm MDT

Watered the tomatoes and strawberries. The "bok choy" still alive, but much bugge eaten. Getting a very few tomatoes. They are very tasty though. Trying to eat salad every meal I can, my body feeling the lack of greenery lately.

Otherwise, listless and vaguely itchy. Worried about the odor in the back coming from the compost, until I realized it was hippie neighbor's chickens. Doesn't bother me, really, but it's distinctive and within a certain radius, pervasive.

Moby is reacting to the reflection off the laptop on the sideboard*. Good to see him engaged, but not wanting to cause a spill off the ledge.




(I may have a new toy, mostly for at work. That I can text with.)

Freak

Eleanor wanted OUTOUTOUT! "You haven't taken me out in YEARS*!!!"

So, after only one, not three, runs around the table, she flops for the harness, and we go out. Luxuriating cat on sunny walk, grass eating, more rolling, as I sit on the step.

UPS guy runs up, I go to take† the package, and the leash slips out of my hand and Eleanor has bolted around the house, through the side porch. I shoo apologetic UPS guy off, they are on tight schedules, and this is not his fault, nor can he help, and I'm laughing because I can hear the skittering thumping of the handle.



(Who was it here to suggested this? Great idea, we use it all the time.)

I head off around the other side of the house, to head her off, as I hear the trailing handle round the front bush, then she vanishes up the steps, as D opens the door. I run in after her, and she's gone through, to Moby's astonishment, to disappear under the bed. I grab the handle, pull her out to disentangle her, and hold her snugly as she shivers. I can't help giggling and chortling while I comfort her. She won't even sniff the catnip spring D brings in for her.

Freaked the hell out, but at least she knew where to come back in, even with that thing thumping behind her the whole way.

Poor kitty. She'll be ok.




*It has been a few days.

†10. THEY WISH YOU’D MEET THEM HALFWAY.

Want to make your UPS driver’s job easier? In a Reddit thread, one driver said, “if you see them pulling up and you aren't in the middle of something, meet them half way, or walk up to their truck.” Every extra step adds a little bit of time to their day. “If 10 of my 150 stops do that in a day I would get home 10-15 minutes earlier and actually get to spend time with my family.”

Layers

Ever do something you know you should wait, but you don't and it turns out for the best? Last evening, I really shouldn't have run the heat gun over the door, let it cool, then stripped. D thought it might only be a single layer, which is difficult to remove this way. But I went ahead, and found this gorgeous wood beneath. Admittedly, one panel is pretty rough, and will need a lot of sanding. And the framing just won't clear this way at all. The other panels, though, are all this lovely color.

This is why I keep on with this, discovering the next glorious surprize awaiting beneath the layers of time.

Saw my kitty-corner neighbor, James, with the chickens and the house with the roof held up with a tree bole. I'd chatted last week with the other chicken keeping neighbor, who mentioned he has a stray hen, likely from James. Called to James, but he didn't hear, so I walked around the corner. I knew it was something of a squat/flop house. One guy on the porch bench asleep, a woman on a sofa inside the front door also crashed. I called out to him in his kitchen, apologized for bothering him, and waking his friends, asking if he was missing a hen. He was very glad to hear she'd been found, he'd even tried to find her at animal shelters.

"Apparently, she's just hanging out with the chicks around the corner."

He laughed, thanked me profusely, clarified where I meant, thanked me again.

It was as if I'd stepped back in time to the 60s, a true hippie pad. Still, I felt a kindness and a welcome in their squalid shabbiness. Glad I live a more ordered life, perhaps a little sad that I could so little tolerate myself a more chaotic existence.

Walked out later to get groceries, as we returned through the sunflowers, the finches, that normally scatter with anyone passing by, simply ignored our arrival. This cheers me immeasurably. I feel like St. Francis of Assisi and Jane Goodall in one. Bees and scrub jays, tiny mantises, cats and finches, all see me as Home, part of the scenery, nothing-to-worry-about. Not to mention the raccoons - whom I would prefer to see me as a threat.

Storm blowing through, lots of rain and thunder, a bit of hail and wind. D off to a work meeting, on foot (as per) and I just hope he got there mostly dry.

Addendum: This story about a bullying HOA is part of why I love having an odd mix of strange neighbors in a shabby old, low-rent, historic district. I'll take retro-hippies any day.

Sari

George feeling very fancy.

Moby more elegant.

Gun

Mid knead bliss.



Scrapers, the one that looks like a pie turner is meant to open up painted shut windows. Which it does admirably, but it also scrapes loosened paint rather well.



The heat gun†, although some care must be taken as it can easily burn... anything. My skin, the wood, the house down. Run it ahead of the scraper slowly, and away from me, as the paint bubbles up, it scoops off nicely. I've noticed a lot of variation on the quality of the strip, thicker paint works better, when the wood beneath seems to have a thick oily lacquer it's better. The corners are difficult.

I made a judgement call on the presence of lead paint, since there seems to be no reliable, nonetheless affordable at any quality, even the expensive ones aren't reliable, test for lead paint. I figure this place wasn't besmirched by paint until the 70s, based on the age of the house, number of layers, as well as colors. Looks like a base coat, then two to four layers at most, and only on the wood framing in the back areas. I would not bet this way on the walls, where there is certainly lead paint right on the plaster. Good ventilation, and not letting my arms get tired. I wear a filter mask, goggles and leather gloves, long pants, and long sleeved shirt. Forgot that last one today, but it worked out.



It's not perfect, but leaves me with spots and smears. Next step, eventually I will sand and stain and lacquer, but getting off the black or grey stuff is my immediate goal. Tiny picks and perhaps a random orbital or finish sander, if I can get one for a good price. Not in a rush on this.


I did a time lapse, but can't figure out how to post it. Getting my IT guy* on it this evening.


†Like every damn 'Merican must have.

*D, of course.

Trims

The rains are past for now. I got out early this morning with the electric trimmer, knowing my neighbor was already awake, and attacked the evil ivy.




And spray painted the wooden back to the side porch, after removing evil ivy early this morning.


We sat out the other evening, bringing out an insistent Eleanor. She sat on the edge of the mosquito netting and only slowly found the catnip plant.



She's been very cuddly with me this morning, head butting into my breast and suckling. "I'm feeling stressed, will you be my mom? Just for a little bit?"

"I'm not your mother, but I love you, so nuzzle in."

She is my cat, and still will not tolerate being reached for from above, even from me. "No, no, nononononono... running away!!"




Watched a yellow jacket and a moth in a struggle for life vs. meal. Each about the same size. Wasp holding on for nourishment "You aren't going to live long anyhow!" and moth fluttering madly, intermittently, for another moment of life. I watched as they struggled in the Thyme, interested. So must the gods see us, in a pointless fight for another moment, when so many earlier moments have already been wasted.

I sit and watch the finches in the sunflowers, the whole yard a bird feeder. I stood, reaching up my arms fully, and only got this close.





I don't think the saints get any closer, they just know how far away the utter truth lies.

My arms are tired and fatigued, what Drill Sergeant Burrell chanted at us, "Noodle arms, noodle arms!" A productive morning, but I can no longer hold.

Another day this week, off work, and so much I want to do. May discuss the stripping process, Fresca.


Fuckin' finally.

Stormage

Drove home last night as this storm hit. Fearsome clouds, and me driving toward and down into it. Much closer than wherever this was shot from. And people out walking when they should have been taking shelter. Also occurred to me that the Outdoor Retailers are in town, as they were when the tornado hit in '99. No tornado this time, but the Tour of Utah bike race had a couple of bad injuries at the finish line as a metal structure blew down. Not safe weather, people, c'mon.

Good twelve hours at work yesterday, mollified that Monday we're closed for low census. Up way too early this morning, for no apparent reason. Often happens, though, I wake up very early when I get to bed exhausted and a bit late.

Nest

Found photo of hummingbird nest on a peach.

Pistachio

Enjoying various gelatos lately, pistachio being my favorite. Talenti brand, so not often, but perhaps once every three weeks. Got some pre-packaged flan, with trepidation, but it is very nice, just what we wanted.

Went to the neighborhood community council meeting last night. Highlight being the engineers describing how they plan to refurbish the old City County Building, a lovely stone edifice that spend many years in the 80s surrounded by scaffolding, and the process starts again next year. But instead of needing a crane to take inspectors up to the high parts and towers, this time they used drones to take photos of otherwise inaccessible areas where the stone is delaminating.

The worst part was the nut, possibly a bit soused, interrupting with a rant about some baseball field issue that most of us had never heard of, but boy was he angry about it. When he was called to order, he called the moderator "rude." Jerk.

New scrub tech orienting. I'd set up the mini c-arm, got it plugged in, about to get the numbers to access later images set up, and she says, "Can I unplug the c-arm?"

"No. Why?"

She needed to get her table in, and instead of taking it over the power cord, or moving the machine to go around, her first thought it to unplug it. When I remind her never to just unplug c-arms of any sort, she says, "Oh, I would have turned it off first." Sure you would have.

Patient in the room, residents getting ready to place the tourniquet. The resident anesthesiologist turns on the tourniquet box, we hear the churning and hissing of the air pressure. The cuff isn't even placed on, the tubing isn't plugged in, and anyway, we would never have it up while we position and prep and drape, that's the last thing before incision. Guy doesn't even have the sense to say "Sorry, of course, not thinking" no, he says, "I heard you say put on the tourniquet!"

Get home, and maybe a half dozen people are sitting on the sidewalk in front of our house, a bike partly in the driveway. I park in back, walk out, and suggest the park a half block away might be a better choice. One guy gets all aggressive and accusatory of me, defending his "right" to be on "public" property. Thing is, if they'd just said, "Oh, enjoying the sunflowers. Mind if we hang out a few more minutes?" - I'd have said cool, be careful of anyone walking by. But Aggro guy was already huffing and fuming and storming off. My attempts at de-escalation were not effective, but then he had my lines that he had written already in his head, and nothing I could do. Saw the rest of them, later, and Aggro was not with them. If I'd been closer, I would have tried to keep peace with them.

Some people, there is no peace to be found.

D had to deal with people having a meeting around his table, when they have real offices. He was not part of the meeting, only the victim.

The world is bizarre and annoying this week. Good thing there is pistachio gelato and flan to be had.

Lemons

One is very tall, right by the porch.



With a temporary bindi.

The very tall one over the sidewalk, I tied to the tree the other day. A sunflower to the face is pretty unpleasant.




"Aw, a bee snuggle..."



"Bye!"




"mmmmmitnty"


Free the Bacon.

There is a reason Kevin Bacon is in everything.


The Lemon Tree* song has been swirling around my head lately. Annoyed me greatly as a kid, since I liked lemons. Whenever I got a slice of lemon, on the rare occasions during vacation when we ate at a diner and I got fish sticks say, I always ate the lemon. LOVED lemon.

So, this cynical and misogynistic little ditty, with the catchy chorus and pretty tune, drove me a little nuts. Don't trust love, women will cheat on you. Well, um, as a female myself... . Whole lotta songs like that, it's all HER fault. And what does that say about how his father felt about the kid's mother? Huh!?


Still don't get the hostility toward lemons. Just because they are a bit strong and not for eating whole. Chili peppers, even habaneros, don't get that kind of bad rap. Wouldn't eat a whole fistful of salt, either.

Cleaned up after the raccoon-mess made of the peanuts. Planted clover in the bare spots near the street. Turned the compost. Killed snails and weeds. Waiting for rain.



*When I was just a lad of ten, my father said to me,
"Come here and take a lesson from the lovely lemon tree."
"Don't put your faith in love, my boy", my father said to me,
"I fear you'll find that love is like the lovely lemon tree."

Lemon tree very pretty and the lemon flower is sweet
But the fruit of the poor lemon is impossible to eat.

One day beneath the lemon tree, my love and I did lie
A girl so sweet that when she smiled the stars rose in the sky.
We passed that summer lost in love beneath the lemon tree
The music of her laughter hid my father's words from me:

One day she left without a word. She took away the sun.
And in the dark she left behind, I knew what she had done.
She'd left me for another, it's a common tale but true.
A sadder man but wiser now I sing these words to you:

Raccoons

We heard some noises, as the motion sensor light on the side step came on at 0400. Figured it for our neighbor cat Sebastian. But then we heard thumping about that seemed too loud, followed by a low growling hissing. I got up, opened the door quickly, and two raccoons were tussling on that bit of porch. I shut the door very fast, took a moment to catch my thoughts, got the vinegar in the spray bottle, and opened it again, to leave an unpleasant memory on the one bumbling over the fence. Each looked about twice as big as our cats, so I'm guessing a good 20lbs.

Didn't sleep much after that.

Didn't want to get up this morning. Half hour after I got to work, I wanted to leave. Very busy day, lots of running about with waiting about, and lots of cases all over the place. Feet hurt, eyes tired, enough.


Raccoons. Guy at work tells me they tend to live in a small territory of just a few blocks, not crossing busy roads. Seldom seen by people, very good at hiding, as well as being nocturnal. Maybe these two jerks had been drinking.




Addendum: Perhaps they have taken up residence in the abandoned meth house, which also might explain their aggressive behaviour. Also, the peanuts have been out there more than a month, and the non-bird-like state of the remains I've only noticed over the last couple of weeks, worst the past two days. So I think they may be shifting their territory. Possibly disturbed by the activity around the derelict duplex.

Sheepies

Sebastian the bear has been around for a long time, has traveled with us, and kept us company. We met on Christmas, oh, maybe 20 years ago? At least 15, but I've lost count.

Still dashing, and obviously very intelligent.



Also rather suave is George, the Emperor Penguin that has likewise traveled many miles and years with us. Only in one apartment did he decline to make a daily appearance due to cramped conditions. He leans a bit to the right, but only literally, not politically. George, after George Smiley, because people have sat beside him all evening and not noticed a 4' penguin in the room.



This sweet sheepie declines to reveal her name so far, but we listen anyway. Behind her, our honorary hedgehog. Not sure if he is a hedgehog, but we wouldn't think of contradicting him. Name of Harry. Possibly Canadian, although we've never asked for his passport.



Speaking of sheeps.






A little recursion for those who likes them sorts of things.

Bok Choy

I sure hope that what I planted is bok choy, it's sure coming up well around the replanted strawberries. Built a make-shift frame to hold netting, if there is any fruit to keep the birds from.



Moby having a good stretch, even up to the top of his tree today. We always take that as a sign he's feeling good.



Yes, he's sleeping on a glove.


"I love this guy, you know? Love him."