Busy boys get things done

It was a good week.  I had a doctor's appt last Monday.  I'll get the results today but everything should be fine.  My blood pressure was on its best behavior and now that I rarely eat red meat, my cholesterol should be better.  The next day there was an appreciation lunch at work, so I got to get together with my team.  We had a lot of laughs.  The rest of the week was pretty uneventful at work, which left my mind to roam free and focus on my bigger home projects and what I really thought I could accomplish.  And, then it started to rain and it rained a couple days and we did rain dances.  And, just that quickly, it was autumn here.  It was great and we ended up getting about 2" and highs in the mid 90s, which is a LOT different than 107*F. Everything started to turn green again and now we'll get a small round of flowers.  I'm trying to grow some fall tomatoes and in this cooler weather, they might start to set fruit.  

Moving things back into the garage has had a cascading effect.  There was a lot of stuff tucked around the house that needed to go to the greenhouse and a LOT of stuff in the greenhouse that just needed to be thrown away.  I took down the shade cloth because of the much cooler weather and that made space for a whole shelf of smaller plants and I added the eyes to hang baskets from.  Slowly everything that needs to be in there is getting moved in.  I can't unpack those last boxes until I buy pegboard, and there are so many options that I'm having trouble committing.  

And, then there was suit shopping.  You'd have thought I was buying a bathing suit.  I got very picky and disappointed quickly, but I found a suit.  (Excuse the deck...see below)  I hated it in the dressing room but bought it anyway and if a really dark storm hadn't blown up, we would have kept shopping.  Then, I got it home and tried it on with the right shirt and it's not so bad...I also have a better pair of shoes to go with it...I hate this new trend of making the shoes really important by making the pants so narrow at the hem.  

On Sunday, Rob cleaned the deck while I played in the greenhouse.  You can see how dark it was, but he used a new deck cleaner this year and it's very bright!  It's so clean, I don't even want to put plants on it.  

After all the rain, the rain lilies started to come up and bloom.  They're all over the neighborhood, but those are usually white.  The neighbors gave me these red ones and they are shining bright.  They'll fade soon enough, but for now, I'll enjoy the bright spot.  

Christmas ornament we found in the grocery store.  Had to have it!  Each tool is about 2.5" long.  

Everybody have a great week!  Keep your head up and thinking positive.  The worse things get for trump, the louder his cult is going to scream.  Be encouraged by the screaming.  It means we're doing the right thing.  

Lane

Repairman

We took the new Bernina to the dealer.  Seven week wait...somebody's got to get their kids interested in small appliance repair, specifically sewing machines or there aren't going to be any repair options left.  At this point, they could charge whatever they want.  Anyway, we found out you can make an appt for repair in 7 weeks and then bring the machine back when it gets closer to your time.  I also ordered the capacitors from out of the country and am going to see if this is work I think I can do.  If not, any repairman can do it, they just can't get the Bernina parts, so maybe if I take the parts with me, I can find someone to do it for me.  

Saturday morning, I was walking and stumbled up on a garage sale.  They were still putting stuff out, but I saw this and wandered in and had a chat and offered them a few bucks for the mixer, thinking they'd bargain up the price, but I was wrong and they set it aside til I could come back with cash.  I brought it home and gave it a try and it made an awful noise.  The gears just ground together, so I ordered grease and yesterday, I greased the transmission.  I couldn't get into the planetary gear (the one that makes the beater turn while the beater mount also turns).  I gave it another try and it still makes the noise.  I'm going to have to get grease down in that gear.  

The jury is still out on whether this was a wise purchase.  It only came with the paddle attachment and it's chipped.  I've decided to wait and see if I can get it working more quietly before I spend money on attachments.  It's 475 watts and a 6qt bowl, so if I can get it up to snuff, it's going to have been a steal.  

I'm slowly getting moved back into the greenhouse.  I spent all the time I could out there both days, and got more unpacked...and washed.  Because why bring my dirty stuff into my nice clean spot.  There's still a couple things to do, like order pegboard for my tools to hang on and finish bringing in the plants, but we'll get there.  Now that this is done, I was able to take apart the shelving unit that was on the deck holding plants and move it into the garage, which meant I could get a start on my garage reorg project.  I spent most of yesterday afternoon working on that.  

There are a few things still blooming in the garden and the plants are starting to recover from the heat and are putting up new growth to replace what's been ravaged by the sun.   This thryallis might not look like much, but it's having its best year yet.  It's been in three spots and it survived, but barely.  Last winter, I moved it again and chose a good spot and it's been growing and recovering and is giving me a good bloom.  

The Rockroses are starting to bloom.  These bold pink flowers love the hot sun and dry soil and are popping up here and there.  They're not a bush plant, but rather send out long runners that lie on the ground, then curve up and make a flower.  Because of that habit, they can pop up anywhere.  

Still thinking about the baby quilt.  Can't decide on a pattern.  Postcards from Sweden is a very nice quilt, but I didn't stop looking and have found a couple others I'm interested in.  We will see.  

The beagle is doing well.  When we see her in her harness, we can tell she's lost weight, but she's still perky and happy and dances and sings.  She doesn't know she's sick, just that there's a steady stream of treats and she's here for it!

Everybody have a great week.  Even organization and cleaning can be fun if you're in it for the right reasons.  Just tuck in and tackle it a little at a time til it's all done.  Then realize it's never all done.  

Lane

He chose unwisely

Happy Labor Day!  We are breaking the tradition of Labor Day here.  The tradition has been to work ourselves half to death and then complain that we never have free time to have fun.  While we didn't go crazy having fun this weekend, we did cut down on the amount of work and spent more time relaxing.  It's still to hot to get out and do much except water in the mornings, but I've found some entertaining things to do inside and have generally enjoyed myself.  

On Friday, I unpacked the new machine.  I will say this for the seller, he packed it well!  It took about 30 minutes just to get it out of the boxes.  

I'm going to do my best not to sound regretful because I don't feel that.  But, I got overly excited about buying a new machine and I let the descriptions of several mush together in my mind and when it was all said and done, the machine I bought wasn't the one I intended to buy.  I had my eyes on several that were being sold by reputable repairpersons who had recently serviced the machines and guaranteed them to be in good working order.  The guy I bought from was not one of those.  

I got it unpacked and it is a beauty!  There were a couple of scratches that I didn't notice in the pictures, but they're not serious, and I still don't think the machine has a lot of miles on it.  I think it's mostly been in the case.  The scratches are from someone putting it in the case improperly and then trying to force it closed.  Probably not the person that spent several thousand dollars on the machine when it was new.  I knew something was off when I loaded thread in the bobbin and it was so tight the thread wouldn't pass through.  That's okay.  I adjusted the tension for the thread I was using.  

The more I used it, the noisier it got, not good noises either.  I took off the cover and it was dry as an Egyptian tomb in there.  It had been a while since it was oiled.  A long while.  That's when I went back to the original listing and re-read it and looked into the sellers bio.  That's okay.  I service my own machines. I have the oiling and lubricating guide.  I can do this.  

It was running like a dream.  And, then I heard a sizzling sound.  And, then I noticed the smoke.  I unplugged it and sat back in my chair and just watched it smoke for about 10 minutes.  I probably would have cried, but I was too busy making sure THE HOUSE DIDN'T CATCH ON FIRE!

It didn't.  

After I stared it in full self-pity mode for a while, I took the cover off and checked out the electrical system.  There are no obvious signs of damage and only a small bit of smoke residue.  I wondered if maybe I'd gotten oil on something and it was burning off, but the smoke had been white and it smelled electrical, not black oil smoke.  Then I started to do research.  It sounds like a capacitor blew.  The machine still runs.  It runs great.  But, I'm afraid that if I keep using it, I'll do more damage, so I quilted with it a little while and then the smarter part of me kicked in and I packed it up and looked for a reputable Bernina dealer in town with a good service tech.  They're all the way on the other side of town, in a galaxy far, far away.  yay

So now, I've set my old Bernina back up and will use it until I can schlepp the new one to the dealer to have it repaired.  I'm also looking at a repairman that's more local and has a really good rep and has been repairing machines for 35 years.  I've run into him at quilt shows before.  And, he won't be trying to sell me a new machine.  I'll keep researching and we will see what happens.  

There is very little happening in the garden.  Rob is nearly finished with the greenhouse.  We've hung a new fan on the wall and a new door.  Excuse the mess.  I'm trying to move back in there and it's been slow going because Rob has been in there until it's too hot for me to get in there to start putting things away.  I spent a couple hours one day washing things.  It's too pretty in there for me to load in all my dirty pots and trays, so I gave it all a good wash and took the time to sift through it and get rid of the stuff I don't need or want.  Stuff that was just taking up space, and not providing joy.  I think it's going to be great.  

In other news, Rob's best friend's 31 year old daughter passed away on Friday after a couple years of failing health.  It's so sad and her parents are devastated.  Rob has known her since she was a child and was heartbroken by the news.  As is traditional, I made a casserole.  

Everybody have a great Labor Day.  Enjoy it with friends or family or just relaxing and enjoying all the benefits that unions brought us, like the 40 hour work week and paid time off and employer funded health insurance.  

Lane

Too hot to move

Every day, we get a message from Austin Energy advising us to conserve power in the late afternoon/evening, and I can't help but wonder if this is the day the Texas power grid will fail.  The more the governor tries to assure us everything will be okay, the more I worry that it won't...because, as is common in his party, he is not familiar with the concept of truth.  The system is not built to handle the needs of Texans in any kind of extreme weather.  Power went out last night for about an hour.  We decided to pull out the generator and the portable a/c, just to have them unpacked and ready in case.  And, what else did we have to do?  Fortunately we didn't need them, but they're there and ready, like insurance.  

I didn't do anything crafty this week.  Not a stitch of crochet, knitting or quilting.  It was too busy, and by the end of the day, all I could do was sit and watch TV.  I did however buy a sewing machine and it should be here in a day or two.  Here are my expectations...we'll see if I purchased well or not.  

I love my Bernina Record 930.  I love the all metal construction and its power.  I love that it will sew all day without any complaint and that the thread never knots or breaks unless I do something stupid.  And, I love, love, love that there's no computerization.  The most fancy thing it does is needle down by a heel tap in the foot pedal.  It's the machine that has quilted all my quilts and we estimate that I've put over a million stitches on it.  But, it's starting to sound "tired" after a day of quilting and the foot pedal gets cranky after several hours, and I think it's time for some lighter duties for it...it's great at making shirts where I'm not constantly sewing for long periods of time.  

Sew, I bought another one just like it.  I shopped carefully.  I could have gotten one cheaper.  Because they're such workhorses, there are still plenty on the market.  But I was looking for slightly used.  I used the markers of use on my machine as my guide to knowing what slightly used would look like.  The sewing surface needed to be shiny.  On my machine, a thousand tiny scratches and heat buildup have taken the shine and "slick" off that surface.  It couldn't have chipped paint.  Some of them had lost all the paint around the feed dog area.  Definite sign of heavy use.  The wheel end of the machine has a piece of plastic covering that turns yellow when exposed to sun, so I looked at machines where that was still off-white, hoping it means they've been stored in their cases for long periods of time.  And, I wanted a video of the machine in use.  I held those videos next to my machine and listened to the difference.  Where my machine makes a small sound like metal rubbing against rubber, it should make a distinct clicking sound as the needle rises and falls.  I found all of that in a few machines and while I was shopping, one seller reduced the price twice to something much more reasonable, so it felt like a little karma.  I spent the weekend cleaning up in the studio so it would be easy to do the machine swap.  Who knew that I had pulled out half of what I own and stacked it on every cutting or sewing surface?  Almost all of it is back in its place now...most of it anyway.  It was a LOT.  I'll put the old machine in a cabinet and move it in for regular sewing and the new one will be designated for quilting.  

I spent yesterday afternoon with my arm in the aquarium.  I had a good filter that lasted 10 years and then started to get loud.  I pulled out my alternate filter, which I always keep on hand for emergencies and remembered why it's my alternate and not my primary, so I bought a filter like the one that had given such good service and set it up and it was louder than the original one after 10 years of service.  Yesterday, we bought a different one and I spent a good bit of the day organizing the aquarium and swapping out the filters.  I am very happy with my afternoon's work.  Of course, after all that, the fish would not come out to have their picture taken.  

I'm starting to slowly move back into the greenhouse.  I've bought a few new things for it, like a trashcan and step stool and am collecting cache pots so everything isn't in growers pots.  I'm going for a look.  I bought a new fan that we're about ready to hang on the wall and we bought the new storm door yesterday. That and a couple paint touchups and a couple more shelves and it will be ready to go!

In addition to my regular job, I help coordinate the company's response to weather events and last week was a lot!  Fires, tropical storms, hurricanes, flooding...the weather was all over the place.  It took a lot of my time, and by end of week, I was pooped!  This week isn't shaping up much better.  Climate change is real, y'all.  No matter what lies the fossil fuel industry tells, the truth is visible by just looking at the weather.  

Everybody have a great week!  Stay cool and dry and keep an eye on the people around you to make sure they're doing the same.  

Lane

(lookie there...I made it all the way through without making fun of trump lying about his weight!  I'm so proud of me!)

Watering

With the water restrictions, I ended up spending a little time every morning watering with a hand held hose.  It worked, and I'm hoping it keeps working.  A couple things are even blooming, including this daylily that's giving a second bloom. I didn't realize that you have to live in an area that gets hot enough for a second bloom, I just took them for granted until someone explained that.  Sorry for the bad pic, but the sun is so bright that it's hard to get a picture.  The flowers aren't as vibrant as they were in spring and by end of day, they're faced to a pale orange, but I get to enjoy them in the morning.  

This is what they looked like in the spring.  

I put out that new birdbath and have been patiently waiting for the birds to come back.  This is not what I had in mind.  It sat there for several minutes looking around.  I wasn't sure if I should scare it off or just sit at the window and enjoy the majesty of this magnificent bird.  

The regular birds have started to come back too, and they're trying to see how often they can empty the feeders.  

I need to make a baby quilt for a co-worker.  I was wearing a brightly colored plaid shirt when she told me she was pregnant and when I asked what color she preferred, she said the colors in your shirt.  I found this picture of a quilt on Etsy that is in the colors of that shirt...but I 'm not sure about it.  That feels like a lot for a baby quilt.  But, I guess it wouldn't show stains.  We'll see.  I'm still looking at pictures for inspiration.   

Yesterday, I decided to make tomato jam.  I'd never done it before.  Other than the fact that it took most of the afternoon and ended up with such a small batch, it was wonderful!  I had a couple spoonfuls more than would fill the jars and we had it last night with crackers and cream cheese...it is to swoon over!

Sydney kept asking 'why not just buy ketchup' and after I tasted it, I have an answer to that.  

Last week was a crazy week at work.  The stress settled into my lower back and I've struggled with a backache all weekend.  Today, it's better, just in time for another week crazy week at work.  But, there's not so much planned for this week, so hopefully, it will go smoother.  

I found a couple political things to share.  

This one may become my new mantra.

Everybody have a great week!  Stay out of trouble, unless trouble is what you enjoy...then 'cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war'...or create all the trouble your pocketbook can afford.

Lane

Goin to the dogs

 It's the dog days of summer and quite frankly, I'm melting.  I can hardly wait until mid-September when it cools off and starts to rain again.  Austin moved to stage 2 water restrictions, which means we can only use sprinklers one day a week.  I hate that, but I get it, and know it could be worse.  We gave everything a good watering on Saturday and I can do some hand held hose watering during the week to keep the plants in pots and a couple of especially vulnerable areas watered.  And, watch the garden start to brown. 

But, that's okay because it will all start over again in September for a fall spurt of growth to feed the roots through winter.  I have identified a few plants that can't take the heat in their current spot and will try to move them into a little shadier spot for next year.  

Mary asked last week if I was having trouble quilting through all the layers on the triangle quilt.  I'm not having too much trouble.  Part of that is how I ironed the seam allowances during construction.  I was very careful about getting them all turned the right way so they created as little buildup as possible, so much so that I took it to quilt guild, not so much to show the front, but to show the back of the quilt top.  I was very proud.  I'm careful about trying not to sew through the thickest parts.  The hardest part was the center where the squares are 1".  That was a lot of seam allowance to try to avoid.  When I was doing the spiral, it required precise placement, so I had to sew through the seam allowances, but with the feathering, I can make a slightly bigger or smaller feather to try to avoid the worst of the joins.  

Mable is doing well.  When this all started, she had a terrible intestinal infection and that has cleared up for the most part (it took three rounds of antibiotics).  She's comfortable and eating well and everything is working.  She gets lots of attention and treats.  Did I mention lots of attention?

We walk every day and she gets to sniff everything and enjoy being outside her yard.  The vet said this could go on for a while, so we're going to enjoy every minute of it.  She and Bella took over the couch last night and neither would budge to make room for me, so I was relegated to sit elsewhere.  By the dogs...

Rob finished the first shelving unit for the greenhouse.  One more of these and replacing the storm door and this project will be finished.  He's given me clearance to start moving in some plants, but it was too hot yesterday afternoon to get to that.  

Syd's still here.  Still.  On August 1, I reminded her that it was time to start thinking about apartments.  Tomorrow, I plan to ask how far she's gotten, but I already know the answer.  She will not like my thoughts on that, but it will get her motivated to really start looking.  We're starting to pull back on some of the privileges she's enjoyed, like just because we go somewhere doesn't mean we have to take her.  We can go on dates.  And, we're going to the grocery on Sunday when it's convenient for me, even if she is shopping while sleeping.  We continue to get along for the most part and I guess that's what counts.  I still want to be friends when she moves on.  

Yesterday, I made 1/3 of a recipe of Martha Stewart's Mac and Cheese.  To me, it is the best homemade M&C.  Not pictured are the tiny banana bread made from the one overripe banana that was left last week and a pitcher of delicious peach and blackberry sangria.  I was having fun in the kitchen.

Couple thoughts I found this week.  

And, where's the special prosecutor for this?

Thoughts and prayers (the real kind) to the people of Lahaina and Maui Island.  My family vacationed there when I was a young man and I have fond memories.  Such a sad event for such a normally happy place.  

Everybody have a great week!  Find something you want to do to change your life and let your life change.  Living is constantly evolving into something newer and better.  

Lane

Hot enough out for quilting

 It's sooo hot here.  So hot that by 10am, I'm inside and ready for a shower.  It's time for inside work.  I spent both afternoons this weekend at the Bernina, quilting on the HST quilt, which should be called something like "Endurance" (but it won't be).  I'm ready to work on something else and have decided it's time to finish this one.  

One thing I noticed as I sat there was a feeling that I should be up doing something more important.  That's very different than a couple years ago when it would have been 'I have to get up and do something else...no, I really have to...I'm getting up.  See me getting up?  I'm moving like the wind'...and yet I'd just keep quilting.  It felt good to say 'no, I really don't have anything more important to do.'

I decided I wanted to quilt a spiral in this quilt, from the center out to the edge, then fill in the corners by echoing the spiral.  It was a mess and I tried a couple times and messed with it and picked quilting out of it and tried other things, but I always kept coming back to that spiral.  And, I got discouraged and filled with 'I can't do this' thoughts.  Then, I remembered that my old theory of quilting was that if I could see the mistakes, there wasn't enough quilting.  This is it, next to my machine.  I love looking over and seeing how the perspective on the triangles changes as the quilt moves.

I used the spiral that I'd managed to put in badly and added a feather along one side.  The spiral is continuous, so the feather fills the space and hides how "off" the spiral is.  I've been toying with going around it again to add an echo.  I'll decide if it needs it when I'm done.  The gray 100wt silk thread I'm using disappears in the piecing, so the feathers are not a distraction like I was afraid they'd be.  It was hard to get them to show up in a photo.  I'm finally excited about the quilt again and am hoping I can power through it.  I really would like to get to something else.  Something smaller and quicker to finish.  I miss piecing, but part of my change in attitude about quilting was to stop making new pieces until some of what I've got started gets finished.  

A couple years ago, when we had our first 7* freeze that lasted several days, I cracked or broke all three birdbaths.  What did I know about that kind of freezing weather in the south.  Two concrete ones still held water but dripped and I replaced the glass one.  I decided to repair the two concrete ones and looked on the internet and found an idea that sounded good and executed it...and the birds stopped coming to my yard.  The solution was to spray it with prune and seal like a cut tree limb.  But, don't.  That becomes a sticky, stinky oily mess when there's water in the bath and soon as I'd done it, the birds put up a "bad water" sign on my yard and all went away.  

This weekend, we replaced both baths.  One, we had to buy a new pedestal for, but the other we put on an existing pedestal.  The one with the gnome may have to be moved.  I may have put it in too sunny a spot where it will get too hot, but I'll find a place.  Next, I need to trick the birds into coming back to the yard.  

This is a picture of the greenhouse with the shade cloth hung in it.  Rob has started assembling shelves and we're going to be moved back in here before you know it.  

The Beagle is still beagling and the ride is a roller-coaster.  We measure days on a scale of 1-10.  After a couple of 7s in a row, Friday was a 9, Saturday was a 3 and Sunday was an 8.  When she feels good, she feels very good.  And, sometimes, that's the best any of us can hope for, me included.  It's taking a toll on Rob, but in the main, he's enjoying the good times with her.  But I hate to see him low on the bad days.  Here she is, trying to con Sydney out of some cooked chicken one morning.  Bella follows along because we can't give a treat to just one of them, and she knows it.  

Okay, that's it for me today.  Enjoy the week.  Enjoy the people and things you love.  Smile every time you get a chance.  It means something to people when you do.  

Lane

Good times

 Last weeks post was titled My boring life, but this week was full of good stuff.  Wednesday was book club.  I've been asking for a "man's book", one that was told from a man's perspective for a change.  It was my turn to recommend a book and I chose The Searcher by Tana French.  Unfortunately, only two of us finished it, and only two of us showed up for book club.  The member that came is one I didn't know very well, so we spent the time talking and getting to know one another.  The book was a mystery with a lot of drama and an unexpected ending and I enjoyed it.  

We were out the other day and I bought another of Tana French's books.  I also bought some cookbooks.  I love sitting down to read a new cookbook and try new recipes.  It appeals to my sense of adventure.  

On Thursday night, we went to see Jinkx Monsoon!  That was fun!  Her show was a mix of cover songs, original songs and stand-up comedy.  I love her dark wit and sarcasm!  Other than being kind of loud, it was a great show!  

I hadn't been to the Paramount theater since the 80's.  It's a very old theater that was restored just after I moved here and has seen many great performers in the years since...we just didn't see the shows.  The architecture is beautiful.  This is from the lobby ceiling.  

And, this is from the theater ceiling.

Yesterday, I got a wild hair and made pickles.  Yes, I do use my Ronco Dial-o-matic with it's zero safety features.  I would like to do some more canning next weekend, if I can find some good tomatoes.  

Couple thoughts for the day.  

Time to breed more lions.  

Everybody have a great week!  Find something you enjoy and do it as much as you can.  And, support your local lion breeder.  

Lane

My boring life

It seems like everything is either work or time in the garden or time spent with the dogs.  The beagle hurt her shoulder getting off the bed and took a lot of extra attention this weekend.  And, we found the time to get to the hardware store for the lumber to build the shelves in the greenhouse and while Rob cleaned up the garage so he can use his table saw, I puttered in the back yard, cleaning out this corner that had gotten way out of control.  I let a couple things go to seed in there and I've been pulling them out by the roots since spring.  There are utility boxes in the back corner, so I always need to keep a clear way for any repairmen to get there and have room to sit down.  I harvested about a third of the sea oats because the seed heads were weighing the plants down and covering other things.  The rest are starting to change color and will be cut soon.  I'll never let them go to seed again...I've pulled at least a bajillion of them so far.  

I bought this desert rose on half price the other day.  I kept it inside for a few days to recover and it didn't like that at all and started to droop.  I brought it outside and gave it a nice partly sunny spot and it perked up right away!

The Texas Red Star Hibiscus had a good week last week.  This plant hasn't been getting enough water because it's on a slope, so I used broken flower pots to make a small dam and built up the soil on the inside to create a terrace that I'm hoping will hold more of the water that flows through that area.  I've done that with a couple of plants that are struggling in this area of the garden.

I have tried to be really good at not buying plants and have been sticking with half price "challenges" to see if I can bring them back.  Most are there because the bloom cycle is over.  That was the case with this daylily. The label said "Stella" and I assumed Stella D'oro because of the short stature, but then it sent up a bloom scape and the flower was a double.  It's going to bloom a couple more times and we'll see if the double bloom was a fluke.  

And, I could not resist this orange echinacea that we saw at the grocery yesterday.  I have a red and a yellow and now an orange in addition to two shades of pink.  And, I have the perfect place to put it.  

Last week at work was crazy.  The company has provided us loan in help from another department.  She wants to apply for a job like mine and we're trying to make her the most qualified candidate for the next opening.  And, I made the mistake of agreeing to coordinate that.  I'm having trouble getting my team to participate, so the loan in and I are spending a lot of time together, and we're working on some pretty high-profile tasks.  Last week we completed a research project that had a surprising and not very welcome result.  But, it was good for her to see that and know that sometimes a really good idea just won't work.  We're starting a new project today and it will hopefully have a happier outcome.  

I saw this the other day and really related to it!

I guess Bewitched wouldn't do so well in today's political environment where false-christian republicans are actually afraid of witches, even those portrayed as straight, white and christian.  If there really were witches with the power of Endora, trump and desantis would be stellar dust by now.  

And, wouldn't that be a blessed day.

Everybody have a great week!  

Lane