Other little things

* I realized the local Tractor Supply does "pick up at the curb" now - and went on their website and found they sold "solar garden stakes" - they're cheap, so I don't know how bright they'll be or how long they'll last - but at least for now I'll have them. (I will pick them up later; I've not got the "we're ready for you" e-mail yet). One with three flowers on it, one with a butterfly. I'm going to put them in my front garden where the hanging baskets are so I can see them from the window in the evening when I am at my desk.

* I think part of the reason I find it comforting to think about is my mom has some of those up in her front garden and it feels a little bit like a connection? Also it's getting out for a bit and doing something a little bit different.

* They also apparently sell solar-powered bug zappers and that gets a DO NOT WANT from me because I have no desire to zap the garden moths or other benign night bugs. No, I don't like mosquitoes but I don't go out that much in the evening and if I do, I have lemon eucalyptus I can smear on my skin to repel them. 

* I had the first small crop of beans out of the garden today:

I also have a few tomatoes coming on and the other day when I weeded I propped the plants up (I have coated metal "fences" that support the plants; I never really held with stakes and ties, and those tomato cages never seem to work for me).

I also have lots of nasturtium flowers and I know they're edible but I also know they are "peppery" and I'm not a big fan of peppery things so I think I'll leave them for the bees, if the bees find them.

* I sent off the first Totoro pop-up card from the box I ordered a while back; this is to my swap partner in the ITFF card swap. I really hope the card makes it to her; it seems some cards haven't been and this one is a big thicker/heavier than some (though not enough to require extra postage). An extra skein of floss I sent off to another ITFFer who needed that particular color (and her local shops were out) made it all right - though I did stick an extra stamp on there just in case.

* I found another ball of Sugar and Cream mixed in with other yarn I had and started yet another dishcloth while I read. Maybe I just knit up a ton of these this summer while I read? And save them and send them to people I send Christmas presents to this winter along with whatever else? Maybe I have to ask my mom if she knows what color my brother and sister-in-law's kitchen is? I also have a bunch more loops for potholders* so maybe I make a bunch of those, too - except I can't do those while I read.


(*Heh: "Bröther may I have some lööps?" I am still meme trash.)

Or maybe I figure out how to make a couple potholders and dishcloths in matching colors, and figure out some other small item I could buy (like: a nice coffee mug) and do that as the AAUW Christmas exchange-gift this year. If we are going to be doing that, I don't even know if we're going to be meeting, though increasingly it sounds like "mask plus distance = unlikely to get COVID" and maybe we can begin doing things like that again before too long?

* Mostly took the day off from reading though I probably need to get back to it and do a little more (while I wait for TSC to e-mail me). Later this afternoon I might go out and cut back more volunteer "trees" (I get lots of mulberry and privet, and those things resprout like crazy and it's hard to grub out the roots) and do more weeding. It was supposed to be yard waste pick up today but once again my city's rules-for-its-residents and its actual actions seem not to match up, so maybe I just keep piling up cut brush until they DO pick it up. Eventually I want to get more plants for the areas I'm clearing, too, though I may push the trip to Twin Oaks off to later next week - tomorrow I do have a "distance" meeting for AAUW, and Friday is the second attempt on the student's oral exam, and Monday (womp womp) is a dental check up - they sent me the card so I assume they are open and doing them. Part of me is relieved my teeth will be seen to (not that I think anything is wrong; have had no pain and have kept up with dental hygiene) but part of me is sad that my first big trip out after months of essentially being locked down is to go to the dentist. I'm going to have to remind myself not to startle when the hygienist touches me; it's been so long since I was in close contact with another human. (I hope they actually do do a cleaning and not just x-rays and "hey are you having any problems? No? We'll call it good until December then")

* Social media from Doki Doki crate thanking people for being patient that "May Crates are on the way!" and I really hope that's not just smoke being blown - I still have not seen my April crate and my asking them about it got a "just be patient" back from them. I guess they don't do tracking so they can't tell me where it is but if it's July and I've had no crates show up - well, I'm going to cancel my subscriptions with them, request a refund, and if they can't give me one, I'll figure it's lärpengar - learning-money - a lesson in bailing out of something as soon as a company seems like it's in trouble, or never using the pre-paid subscription model again. (Or, more bleakly: that I'm not permitted nice things).

I hope they come through but every day the box from April fails to show up, the less that hope becomes.

I cancelled the Hello Kitty loot crates I used to get - I am still owed two - but they started having shipping issues in DECEMBER, long before this virus screwed everything up. I got one of the three crates that was missing, supposedly the other two come over the summer. They asked why I was cancelling; I checked the "It's too expensive for me now" box which, yes, is part of  it - I spend money now on having food delivered to the house and ordering craft supplies instead of running to the JoAnn's - but also, I get uncomfortable when a subscription service's delivery gets slower and slower, and I suspect they're in financial difficulty. And while I'd be willing to throw some money to an indie bookstore, or a small quilt shop, or something - I feel less good about making a "loan" (that might never be repaid) to a larger company like Loot Crate.

But yeah. Increasingly my mailbox is bare of anything other than bills and charity begs, and it makes me kind of sad.

* And there's the Tractor Supply e-mail; I can go and get my solar lights...I might even consider, if I work in the yard this afternoon, picking up a pizza from Roma's for dinner....


ETA: Here they are. I'm still waiting for it to get dark enough - I hope they got enough sun to come on, and I hope they work!

They're just plain white lights but that's what I wanted


Edited again: Yes! They all work: