Thursday afternoon things

 * Almost done with the prepwork for the start of classes a week from Monday, I finally got the basics of Canvas taken care of.

though as I joked on Bluesky, this is me, working on the four different Canvas pages for my classes:

Every SINGLE ONE needed a separate "meet the professor" section filled out; I could not find any way to copy from one course and drop it in the other. I guess the good thing is I have my fall office hours memorized now. 

I just have to do some tweaking on the Policy and Law page and upload the first set of slides to it. 

* Which means, yes, tomorrow I can go to Whitesboro. The yarn shop doesn't open until noon but that means I can leave here at a more leisurely time and, depending, stop at the quilt shop in Denison first and get lunch at Lovejoy's first. 

I also want to run to the bank and get some cash. And I admit I feel a tiny bit guilty doing this; I don't have a LOT of money ahead (though enough to pay my homeowner's insurance for the year - that's not due until September but I should do that now) and I was just thinking today, given the horrendous fires in Lahaina, maybe I should donate to one of the relief funds. (I could probably still manage to swing $50, that would be enough to do something)

* I was in Lahaina, years and years ago - a couple times in the late 80s I got to go as part of a college workshop trip on Hawaiian volcanoes that my dad co-led. I think there was a whaling museum there and the "Sugar Cane Train" originated there. We may also have gone to a Hilo Hattie's outlet in the town, I don't remember. But the photos are absolutely horrific and I'm afraid with climate change we're going to see more of this. 

* But yes, I am still going out and getting more craft supplies (even though i don't NEED them and I have many I am not using; I seem to knit less than I did in the before-times and I need to change things about my life including: cleaning house more often, going to bed earlier, and working more on craft projects). 

That said: I did get past the heel turn and gusset stitches pick up on the current socks last night and maybe I just do an 'ongoing projects blowout' because I did find a couple stalled projects while cleaning a little - some socks, and a scarf, and of course the big cardigan that only needs the pocket and button bands and for me to find the buttons I bought for it. 

* And yes, I need to go tomorrow. There's a funeral Saturday; a long term fellow congregant (who had been unwell for a number of years) passed away. She was the cousin of the woman I did the "graveside memorial" for back in 2021, so I feel like it would be good for me to go to this. The family has requested no meal or reception and I think it's awfully late for them to ask now so I doubt I would be asked.

* A dumb but fun thing from the dying site that used to be the Birdsite: your horoscope as Muppets. I always have to look up the "moon" and "rising" for these things; I regard astrology as bunk but maybe entertaining bunk (and yet, weirdly, I do show some "Piscean" traits, though that might also be Barnum statements - I would like to believe I am creative and artistic; I own that I am overly sensitive and emotional).

But anyway, here's what I got: 

Heh, makes sense. I've developed more of an appreciation of Piggy as I've gotten older - as a child, I saw her as "too loud" and "too bossy" but as an adult I see the neediness and insecurity underneath that and you know? She and I are not that different, except I am far, far meeker and less prone to speak my mind. But I get the insecurity and wanting-to-be-adored. I'm also, ahem, "full figured" or whatever the polite euphemism is these days and I share some of Piggy's probable stress about finding nice clothes that fit. And Sweetums - I know less about him, but as I remember him he was a 'Scary looking monster who's not really scary and actually is kind of lovable.' And Robin I always thought of as someone concerned with fairness and the "right" thing, so inasmuch as any horoscope could "explain" me,* this one seems to.

(*And yes, as I said: I can't see any mechanism for stars having an effect on someone's personality based on when and where they were born, and I also think of the old Auden poem about "Looking up at the stars, I know quite well/ That, for all they care, I can go to hell")

 

* I did a little cooking last night. I had got some (boneless, skinless - not my choice but it was what Kroger had) chicken thighs and decided to braise them. Chicken can sometimes get a bit tough. So I used a trick my mom used to use sometimes with pork - cut up a couple apples (I used Golden Delicious - my apple choices here are limited) and a couple shallots, and I put them in a pan with a little oil to start softening and browning, and then put the thighs in just to brown the outsides a little, and while that was happening, I dumped 8 ounces of chicken broth (I use Pacific brand; it's the only one without celery) and about a tablespoon of poultry seasoning (chicken is bland and needs a lot of herbs) into my big Dutch Oven. Then after both sides of the thighs had browned a little and the shallots had softened, I dumped them all  in with the broth and herbs and baked if for about a half hour (or maybe a little more) on 350.

It was very good. This would especially make a good cold-weather meal; it's not QUITE a stew but approaches being one (I suppose you could use arrowroot or potato starch or something to thicken the broth a little, and you could put in more vegetables - carrots would be the logical one but carrots and celery are two things on the no-no list for me (food intolerance). Sweet potato might work. Turnips might work though they might be a bit harsh along with the apples, I liked this because it was fairly mild and "soft" and I'm not sure I'd want a stronger, bitter flavor in there with that. Maybe white potatoes would work....though I think sweet potatoes, provided they didn't totally fall apart, would be tastier.