They don't write songs like they used to

I got up at 7, thinking that I would have more daylight if I adjusted my sleeping schedule. But although it wasn't dark outside, the sun had not yet risen above the horizon, and the sky was over cast. So I laid on the guest bed with a full view of the sun, except for the clouds that marred its light. When my alarm sounded at 8, I laid back in bed to warm up. Then I made breakfast, checked e-mail and took a shower. I wore flats so I could drive Chris' car to church. It seemed easier than before. Maybe because I only had to completely stop twice? Maybe because I only drove it once last week? Maybe my brain has finally finished making the neural connections? When I got to church, someone was in my parking space. I know it doesn't have my name on it, but people should know by now (lol!) Jennifer was practicing with the kids so I talked to Mary and Doris, telling them about my trip to Honduras. They said I should think of them while I was sitting in the warm Honduran sun, but I couldn't promise that. Jennifer Q asked me if I needed a ride to the airport because she likes to do that. I told her I would keep her in mind if the one I think I have doesn't work out. Then I practiced with the choir. I had to hear my part separately afterward for the octave jump. The sermon was about the baptism of Jesus so the congregation was invited to come up and use water from the font to make a forehead cross. The choir sang. I don't think I made the jump. The service continued. After the service, I told several people about my trip. They all wished me well. JenQ's husband was telling me about South American trees in the jungle that drop fireants on passersby, and another one that exudes a dangerous gas. Suddenly, mosquitoes sounded positively tame! Nancy asked me to bring her back some local currency if I could and she would reimburse me.

On the way home, I was able to avoid having to come to a full stop at any traffic lights so the trip home was easy. I would have gone to the store first, but nature called. So I went home for that, and to eat something so I wouldn't buy too much at the store. I ate a sweet potato and some figs. The figs were a mistake because the sugar made me sleepy. The whole afternoon was wasted. When they wore off, I put on another shirt and my coat and went grocery shopping. I did not get much fresh stuff because of my impending trip but I did get some frozen stuff so I will have food in the house when I get back. After the groceries were safely stowed in the trunk, my left foot cramped. I tried to walk it out, and just had to drive home carefully in spite of the pain. I browned an onion and added a package of ground beef and a jar of canned tomatoes. I had just finished eating my second bowl of it when Chris popped up on skype. I skyped with Chris and even Faye for awhile. When I hung up with Chris, I went back to reading Simon and Garfunkel song lyrics and then singing Barry Manilow songs. And then it was time for bed.

*  I did not unwrap my kale today because it seemed like it might snow before church.  But actually it ended up being close to 50 today.  *

Still not packed

I got up at 8 when I heard the alarm. I swished in the sun for 20 minutes. I ran the dishwasher. I watched a video on the toxic profits of shrimp farming and tin mining. I may never eat another shrimp. Not only are the local people and environment hurt by the farming practices, but dangerous chemicals are used as pesticides and some shrimp are injected with dirty water so they will weigh more. The tin mining also hurts the aquatic environment. It is used for making cell phones. Both practices are unsustainable so the fishers and miners are going further and further to get tin and feeder fish.

I did my exercises, and juiced carrots and the remaining celery. I got dressed, and uncovered the kale. I took a moment to breathe outside as I drank the juice in the sunlight. Then I cleaned the juicer, and started making breakfast. I called up an audio on tapping for weight loss. I e-mailed back and forth with Chris on how to get through the trip from Huntsville to Tegus. I finished the audio and a video while eating. Both seemed to be sales pitches at heart. I unloaded the dishwasher. I tried to finish a row of crochet with black yarn. I had to go outside to be able to see well enough. Even then, it was difficult, but I managed. I did a few more rows, and then went ahead and finished the project. I took out some of what Mom had done on hers so I could make it the same length. I think she left out a few rows. I took a pic of them. Then I forced myself to concentrate on packing. It was hard because so many things called for my attention and promised to be easier to do. I knew I needed to pack as much as I could before nightfall. Everything is harder after dark, especially making decisions. I searched all over for a certain dressy top that goes with black pants. I am not sure why I put it where I found it. I tried to put together outfits that would allow me to dress up or down, in weather ranging from 60 to 80. I wish I had taken a pic of what I packed to go to the beach last summer. I turned on all the lights in the house to stave off the encroaching darkness, but by habit I turned them off again as I left each room. I sat down to ponder my choices of footwear. What to wear to see Mayan ruins? So I looked it up, and they recommended deet or long sleeves– yikes! I looked up more natural repellants: eat garlic, no beer, tea tree oil, vit B-1 (thiamine), dabs of pure vanilla, lavender oil, neem oil, cider vinegar, oil of lemon eucalyptus, just to name a few. I felt tired, so I laid on the recliner in the den with the salt lamp. In the dark it looked like a campfire. Later I got up and stir-fried the second half of last night's fish. I covered the kale. I checked e-mail again. I realized I was still not packed. I decided to play the X-files disc from Netflix. When I realized I had seen it, I went to Netflix and checked my queue. I removed all those I had seen and added some new ones. How the others got back on my list is a mystery. I saw Kurt was on, so I skyped him. He did not project video so he could see me, but not I him. Then Chris got on and I got confused trying to talk to both of them. Chris hung up, called Kurt and then added me to the conversation. Kurt chatted awhile and then went to bed. Chris talked to me for awhile, and then he went to bed. I sang along with a few old tunes and then I went to bed.

under cover kale

I thumbed my nose at the alarm and got up at 8:30. I checked e-mail, then laid in the sun, swishing. Wearing my heaviest coat, I uncovered the kale so the sun could reach it. Parker called. She said more debris got caught in the sump pump, but no one is sure where it came from. I put a check in the mail. I picked up trash someone left in my front yard. I took notes for Chris. I exercised, and juiced, and meditated. The postman brought me packages, one was a 2015 calendar which I hung in the kitchen. I made breakfast and ate breakfast. I collated the bills from 2014, then went on to 2013 and then 2012 and even some from 2011. I generated huge piles of paper to be shredded or recycled. I listened to the audio book as I worked. I was also able to bake sweet potatoes for supper and defrost a piece of fish. I covered the kale for the night. Chris skyped me as I was taking a break to check e-mail. After he hung up, I went back to it. At 11 I had gone through the whole stack and collated most of it. There were still some things I did not know what to do with. It was time to go to bed.

*  The blue drape goes on at night to hold in more heat  *

Blocked on this block

I got up at 8 with the alarm. I laid in the sun on the guest bed for awhile. Then I went into the den to sit in the sun and read e-mail as I swished. I exercised in the sun, too. I took out the recyclables. I applied iodine to my skin, spilling it. I juiced arugula, mung bean sprouts and carrots. I meditated as I drank. I made and ate breafkfast. I checked e-mail and listened to an audio book called “The book of the damned”, which is about phenomena which has been poorly explained and shunted aside because it doesn't fit our assumptions about the world. I looked up rain in Pinehurst for the previous weekend, but could not get the data. I e-mailed Parker. She finally replied, that she would reply later. I tried to renew the car tags online, but there was a fee ($5 or 3%) for using a credit card. I decided to mail the payment. However the info I needed was spread out in different places on the statement. Who plans these things? There was no envelop. And they wanted the statement mailed back, not the detachable stub (like every other bill). I scanned it and saved it just in case we need the info later. I dressed warmly in my coat and gloves from my time in Korea. I went outside to get the mail, and to pick up fallen limbs. When I was done with that, I came in to resume listening to the book. I prepared enough supplements to last until my trip. Then I worked on counting and packing supplements and breakfast items for use on the trip. Fell asleep listening to book, Woke up to the low battery sound and plugged it back in, listened some more. Played multiple games of solitaire, then paused it. I took my phone downstairs to monitor while I worked on the block instructions I wrote. The first part worked out fine, but the second part needed rewriting. I had to do it over and did not have enough red, so I had to find another red to use for that. I ran upstairs to check for Chris. He was on, so we skyped and I took the laptop down so I could talk to him while I worked on the blocks. When the battery ran down, I ran up to plug in again. We finished our call. I sewed another hourglass piece, but then I was out of ideas for the last part. I thought there was a technique I'd seen before for flying geese blocks. I went back to the computer to look it up. But when I saw it, I wasn't sure it would work, not without changes. While I was trying to coax my brain into giving me answers, I picked up the crochet project from my mom. I had to use a rug hook to get the first row started. Then I looked up a video on double crochet for the second row. Sure I've done it before, but all the stitches run together now.. I did part of the row and decided it might be easier to see in daylight. I put on my heaviest coat and went out to put the extra layers on the kale. I posted to my blog and went to bed.

Too cold

I got up about 7:50. My nightgown was too hot and the heat kept waking me up. I swished and read by the HappyLight. I made changes to the Wednesday detox and printed out a new copy. I exercised and drybrushed. I listened to an audio on imagining money as a person and making a good relationship with that virtual person. After juicing, I was going to pack and go to the sauna but it was really cold outside. I created a sauna in the basement with PVC and blankets. I had to move a bunch of stuff around. But when I sat inside in the bathing suit, I discovered that the heater down there turns on really hot and then turns off for awhile. Both on the low setting and on high. So there is no way to have a constant temp. I tried to imagine creating a warm space with multiple strands of Christmas lights, but nothing feasible came up. I read e-mail. I brought in the snail mail. I tried to do yardwork but the cold was too much. I put more layers on the kale. I could see why our choir director announced practice tonight with a clause for cold. I check e-mail again. I listened to audio interviews. I played love songs from the 60's and 70's and sang along. I looked up remedies for SAD: one is going to a sunnier climate. (with a dr's prescription, would the insurance pay for it?) I looked up sunrise and sunset in Honduras. They are having an hour and 17 minutes more daylight than here in Alabama. I finished Walter's pants and give him a call. He said he'd pick them up Monday. I looked through a Pinterest page that I had flagged. I found more songs to sing with. When Chris got home, I Skyped with him. On weather.com it said Huntsville was 11 degrees, with -6 wind chill. I am looking forward to Honduras and some tropical weather. After Chris hung up, I sang more old songs. They just don't write 'em like they used to. 

*  For some reason, a huge flock of birds visited my front yard today.  *

Love songs

I got up at 8. I laid on the guest bed to bask in the sunshine. That lasted longer than I had planned. I turned on the router and checked e-mail. I swished, exercised and juiced. Then I took my bag of something to do (it has been so long that I don't remember what exactly it is) and went to quilting. Jane gave me the instructions for one of the quilts they are doing this year. I sat with Beverly She was finishing the binding on her t-shirt quilt. We talked until Jane was ready to close up. Then we talked in the parking lot. She agreed to take me to the airport next week. From there I went to the Asian store for sprouts and kimbap. The lady told me that the usual person can no longer make kimbap, so the substitute makes it now. I still bought it. While I was driving toward home, Beverly called to invite me to stay at her house the night before my trip to the airport. I told her I needed to think about that. I had decided not to stop at the bank on the way home because I had to go, but at the last minute I turned onto the road in front of Walmart and went up Airport road. There was an accident near the bank so traffic was congested. But when I came out, it had been resolved and I had no trouble getting to Whitesburg. When I got home, I went to the bathroom and then got out some kimchi to eat with the kimbap. I usually pull out the pieces of dakon radish, but this time it was in slivers, harder to identify and remove. I ate it as best as I could, reading e-mail. Our agent sent pics, one of more water in the basement. Sigh. I brought in the mail. I worked with my odds and ends of PVC to fabricate a cold frame. I placed it over the kale and went looking for plastic. I could not find the sheet from last year. So I used two thinner ones. I placed the string of lights under it where the rain hopefully can't reach it. I put on some Christmas music. I wanted to take the Christmas tree down, but it's box was ruined the last time this basement flooded. I had another box that I planned to put it in, but it had the doll in it. So I looked for another box for the doll. I could not find one that was empty. So I repaired the tree box. I disassembled the the tree and put it in the box. I put the newer tree in it's box, but it didn't really fit. I repacked the lights and ornaments in a new box, and put the Christmas boxes in stacks. Then I made breakfast, and ate it while reading e-mail. I got a call from Cecily. Then I skyped with Chris. I asked him to sing me love songs and he did, with a little help from Youtube. After he hung up, I played songs on Youtube and cried. I wrote my blog to a mix of Bee Gee's songs and went to bed.
*  These are the pieces I cut yesterday, which I still need to sew together  *

Kale in the vale

My phone was still on mute from church yesterday. So the alarm sounded like a cow mooing for help with some one's hand over its mouth. I grabbed the phone and laid in bed figuring out how to turn the ringer back on. Then I got up to swish and sit with my happylight at the computer. After that, I dressed and took out the garbage. It was very cold outside. I called Parker then 'cause I was afraid she might call after I went to quilting, and then I would not have access to my notes. She said she was just about to call me (I have heard that before). We talked, and then I e-mailed Chris the gist of the call. I exercised, juiced, and made breakfast. I tapped. Then I picked some fabrics to make the Dec and Jan blocks. I rolled my stuff out to Chris' car, surprised how well I remembered how to drive it. I drove to quilting. I saw Alice as she was leaving to visit Virginia. The ladies inside to me that Walter had been there for lunch and looking for me (to pick up his second pair of hemmed pants). I talked to the ladies, caught up on the latest news. Carolyn gave me the bag of blocks from last month. I cut pieces from my pile to make two blocks to go with them. I did not have the cutting instructions for this month's block so could not continue. I stayed until Laurie was ready to go. She would have stayed later, but everyone else had left. I was home by 3:30. I took some pics of the delivered stuff in the carport and my still growing kale (ornamental and Russian Red). I examined the cut leg of Walter's jeans. I decided on a fix and then implemented it. I needed a break to check e-mail. I noticed the encroaching darkness and cold, so I hunted up the Christmas lights from last year and placed them by the kale, and then covered it with a blue drape and plastic. Fixing it up right can wait until tomorrow and full daylight. I searched for a 10 year old document from the purchase of our house but found nothing. What if it is in one of those boxes that were delivered? What if it is still in the garage in Pinehurst? I ate the rest of the piece of fish from last night. I ate the rest of the kidney. I ate some kimchi, and dates with cashews. I tapped and listened to an interview about health hacks. Chris skyped me. He suggested some places to look for the document and I found it. Sadly it wasn't all that helpful. Then I got on the desktop to print out the cutting instructions for the January block. I was musing on how to write a set of directions for it when Denise skyped me. It was her first skype call and she picked me! Ok, she was sick and did not want to spread it. We had a nice chat. Then she hung up to go to bed. I drank some water and did another tapping round. I wrote some very graphic instructions (meaning drawings to accompany the text) for constructing the block. Then I posted to my blog and went to bed.