Another simple project

 I spent part of the day yesterday cleaning and putting things away, and I ran across the corner-to-corner blanket I was knitting again. I tend to be an "out of sight, out of mind" person, which, I don't know if it's that the mild ADHD I probably always had has gotten worse since the pandemic, or age is starting to mess with my memory, but I can kind of forget a project if it's not right in front of me.

Fortunately, once I rediscover a thing, I tend to know where I was in the pattern (if one is required) and I can pick it back up, but not seeing it makes me forget it exists.

Anyway, I pulled the blanket back out with a mind to, if not finish it now (that will take a while), at least work on it again. It's on the decrease section, so at least I know that I'm getting closer to the end, and also, each row is getting smaller (well, just by one stitch each time).

I made this probably bigger than the original one intended by the pattern; it's close to six feet on a side, but I wanted it big enough for on my bed. I'm using one of those ombre yarns, from (sigh) the late JoAnn Fabrics, bought back in 2021 or 2022, when the biggest worry was "will COVID start spreading again" (those days' worries almost seem quaint now)

I got four more samples done - I'm on the third site and am down to eight more to do. And then the pH test, and the carbon content tests on the leftover soil. And then counting all the invertebrates, but that's a less messy task. 

Also after I got home I spent about an hour cutting out some of the stuff that had grown up during the times of heavy rain (and weather too hot to want to work outside even briefly). I might try to do more tomorrow but again there is the annoyance of "where do I stack this up until I can hire someone with a trailer" and it really does rankle that the city wants us to clear these kinds of things BUT will not offer pickup days like they used to - that they expect you to haul it to the dump yourself (not great if you don' own a pickup or a trailer). It's actually a little overwhelming and I'm wondering how expensive it would be to just Hire a Guy, if I could even find a Guy to Hire. 

I'm taking tomorrow off even though I never do anything for Independence Day these days.  (When I was a kid, the years my dad was home from field camp, he'd cook out on our hibachi grill, and we'd watch the fireworks at night. Years when he was still at field camp on the 4th my mom would fix a simpler dinner and we'd watch the fireworks - many years we could see them from my bedroom window because of where they shot them off, and it was nice to be able to watch them without worrying about mosquitoes)

 Holidays when you don't have a family to do stuff with, and no one thinks to invite you, are hard and kind of "nothing" days. 

I might work more on cutting brush if the weather seems amenable, or maybe I clean house a little more. If "1776" is on (Often TCM shows it) I might watch it. Getting out to see fireworks is hard here; I'd have to drive out to the casino, I don't like driving after dark (potholed streets, relatively few streetlamps) and it's awkward to get to it. And also, lots of folks around are shooting off the ones they can buy at the stands, so I expect interrupted sleep this weekend. 

I do need to go to the grocery; the wal-mart is supposed to be open and perhaps if I go early enough in the day I'll avoid crowds; I didn't feel like it when I got done today around 4.