Dreams and food talk.

 Blessings Darlings!

I had one of THOSE dreams last night.  I was working a job where the Upper Management had suddenly changed all sorts of things, but given me no training in the new stuff.  Including the new software.  Frustration ensued.  I tried to go to my supervisor for help, but even SHE was forced to work the cash register at this point and couldn't take time to get me to the point of being useful to her or customers or to myself.  Extremely frustrating.

Or, as they say, welcome to 2020.

Friday night we ordered from the better of the two local Chinese restaurants.  This will be the 3rd night we're eating the stuff.  Big portions, good (not great) flavor.  Way more meat in each of the main courses than needed.   So we've taken to adding their dishes to the vegggies and sauce stir fry leftovers from what I made earlier this week.  With garlic or hot sauce added for fun and variety.

One item did NOT have too much meat - in fact didn't have enough meat.  The Crab Rangoon.  That I'm going to make a batch of on Wednesday or Thursday, and do it RIGHT.

Really, that's all for today.

Frondly, Fern

Look! Up in the Sky! It's a Bird, it's a plane, it's ... the Perseids.

 Blessings Darlings!

Picture this:  The Interwebs, August 2020.  Someone spellbegs.  No one replies.  16 hours in I give her a LMGTFY.  She objects - googling is lazy. 

Baby girl, spell begging is lazy.  Asking folks to share their research, their sigils, the spells they've created/worked is lazy.  Googling is the beginning of doing research and NOT being lazy.  I point this out, and she blocks me.  Still having gotten not one single other reply.

Gods, people are stupid lately.

In other stuff ...

The land here is still abnormally dry, and the temperatures have been hot.  The lawn care folks are ignoring this, and mowed the barely grown lawn today, so it now looks like dead grass.   Most of the time I spent in the garden today was on removing dead baby squash, now rotting, from the yellow squash plant.  It's not as if that will remove all grey mold spores - not at ALL - but I feel better for having removed that slimy crap.

I have about 2 pounds of green beans from the garden in the fridge, and 3 yellow squash, and a lot of Swiss Cress, along with several home grown tomatoes, so the garden is serving us well.  I can harvest the potatoes anytime, too.  Which is handy since there is now a bloody potato recall due to lysteria or something.  It also affects some citrus.  I'm pissed about that aspect.  And this is why I keep those dry lemon and lime powders around - Simply Lemon, Simply Lime.  Because I love citrus, especially in iced tea.  And this is iced tea season here in the northern hemisphere.

Speaking of the seasons. the Perseid meteor showers are going on, right as I type.  But only visible on the other side of the planet right now, since it's daylight here.  They peaked here shortly before dawn this morning.  But if you watch the skies tonight you'll almost certainly see stragglers.  Or meteors not from that group - August is a peak time for visible meteors.  

 Two states have hit new highs in Covid 19 deaths yesterday.  Rah?  I had more masks as part of my Walmart order, but Walmart didn't fill that part - said they were out.  So Spawn went into the store and got them (because they were NOT out of them), and got the alcohol, bottle brush, and peroxide that Walmart had said they were 'out of' as well.

My car is in the shop.  I'm late in getting it its inspection, and it needed an oil change.  It failed the inspection, so I need to shell out money for front brakes and such. Work that we can afford because I saved what I could from that weekly $600 Covid 19 stimulus money I was getting with my unemployment.  So this helps keep the local economy moving.  Rah?

Tomorrow I hope to take all the comforters in to the laundromat and wash them.  Before the bulk of the students return to town.  I have saved quarters for a year to do this.  And watch - I've not been to the newly build laundromat yet, they probably don't use quarters and want you to put money on a card.  Stay tuned!  Such wild adventures I have.

Frondly, Fern

August Life in the US update.

 Blessings Darlings!

So, back to more mundane daily life-during-coronavirus.  I'm enjoying a bit of hypomania and the higher energy levels.  House is getting more deeply cleaned, two blog posts I'm really proud of, reading is being done without me falling asleep, etc.  Yes, folks - the pillows are in the wash even as I type.  Maybe it's not hypomania, maybe this is what 'normal' folks without anxiety and depression feel every day.  Whatever.  

I'm trying to incorporate a second daily offering in my life, an offering of some of my coffee to The Morrigan in the morning.  Been meaning to do that for a week.  Last night I put a sticky note on my coffee cup.  This might be just the thing I needed - I MIGHT now be able to do an offering before I actually have my daily coffee! 

But Coronavirus drags on, with more than 5 million infections in the US.  Schools are opening, masks aren't begin worn, infections spreading there, lots of students/staff getting quarantined.  The Spawn's college starts again 2 weeks from today.  We know that one class will be online.  The other 4 are all supposed to be In Person. I have invested in more masks.  Hospitals still full, respirators still fully utilized, deaths still up.

Sturgis is full of bikers going around mask-free, who will infect each other then spread out across the country.  There might be many a Harley on sale cheap in a few months.

Economy still fucked, because folks don't want to become ill or die.  My job is GONE.  The hotel is going to be a dorm for the local college, so the college can do only one student per room.  The dorms do not serve meals.  I worked in the kitchen.  My only job options right now are McDonalds and Dairy Queen, and maybe the Food Lion is hiring.  Both would require lots of exposure to, ya know, people.  For minimum wage.

Grocery prices are still way up, especially for meats. There are new episodes of contamination of lettuce every few months.  We're getting by on Swiss Cress from the garden instead of lettuce. This will be more of a problem come winter, of course.  I don't have quite enough veggies to not have to buy any, but maybe I'll do better next year.

The Chubby Hubby's birthday is coming, and there's really no where to take him for the day.  Museums?  Surely you jest.  If it was MY birthday, we'd hike.  But MY birthday is in December.  His is on the anniversary of the National Park Service, later this month.

While the Spawn and I were getting our Coronavirus stimulus money, we saved most of it.  The govt might start it up again, but Constitutionally money stuff has to start in the House.  Not as executive orders from POTUS.   At any rate, we could save a lot and did save a lot.  We'll be okay for a while, unlike lots of folks.  Most renters here in West Virginia are delinquent on their rent.  

Here in the US we haven't even had the national conventions leading to the election.  But this election has already dragged on for ever.  And the stupid push against voting by mail, especially during the pandemic is, well, stupid.  At least here in WV - a mostly Republican state, so POTUS is okay with it here - I can order my vote my mail ballot online TOMORROW.  And you can bet your ass that I'm going to.  But if I had to vote in person - I'd be there, with a chair, drinks, food, umbrella if needed, etc.  I . am . going . to . vote.

Frondly, Fern

In the kitchen with lots of veggies.

 Blessings Darlings!

Welp, I HATE the new interface here at Blogspot.  It does less than the old one. It gives less info than the old one.  We hates it, we do.

Anyway, it's before 10 am.   Dishes done, garden done.  Will roast home grown veggies for a pasta dish to have with dinner soon.  Maybe I'll roast some beets, too.  Or at least some turnips.  The harvest is on, for sure.

 Yup. Spent the day cooking and cleaning.  More focused on the cooking than the cleaning.  Also paid the bills and ordered a fill for our propane tank.  

That's it.  Life just ... goes on.  

Frondly, Fern

Today is for the birds.

Blessings Darlings!

Yesterday I did the "Juno Rite for Finances" from Jason Miller.  Things clicked really well while doing it - no candles blew out, the chanting came naturally, and within minutes of finishing rain started.  As I mentioned yesterday, we're on the Edge of Drought here.

After that rite, I cleaned the part of the patio that is protected by an overlay of roof.  I was given 'word' to put up a second altar out there, but I don't know why yet.  The area needed sweeping anyway, tho.  Today the back is full of swallows flying around, so I cleaned the bird poop (softened by the storm) from under the swallows nest there.  The babies are now living in the air just like grown birds.  The wasp nest is still in heavy use there, of course.  I'll knock that down around December.

While doing the preparation for yesterday's ritual, I realized that the wine in the kitchen had been open, but not used, since March.  Which means it was vinegar at best, and I don't need yet more wine vinegar in the house.  It was painful dumping it, but ... that's life.  I meant to use it for daily offerings, but have been using whiskey instead due to Reasons.  Obviously I've not been doing much cooking with wine for the last 5 months, and instead of wine I've used dry Sherry.

Today is being a Day With No Energy.  Did dishes, worked with the drying herbs, had conversations with Spawn and Chubby Hubby, cut up a lot of fruit, took lots of stuff to the compost bin, watched the swallows, listened to the wrens.  Will do more in the kitchen after dinner.  But not doing a whole lot of stuff today. 

Frondly, Fern

All Covid 19, all the time.

Blessings Darlings!

Dear Gods, the stupid on FB is bad.  And many of the stupid people are too stupid to be helped.  I've tried.

My state is one of the top states in rate of increase in COVID 19 cases.  Rah.  There are only 2 states where rates are falling - Vermont and some other one.  They keep learning more about covid 19's effect on the body, especially in strokes and other brain damage.  And yet the Trump administration is insisting on opening schools.  Yes, young children learn WAY better in classrooms.  Yes, kids in much of the country have little to no access to high speed internet to access online teaching.  I take issue with the idea that kids dying is better than them missing school.  And that teachers and other support staff dying is better, too.

We need to close everything for 4 weeks.  That's the only way to get ANY control on this.  Close the banks.  Stop foreclosures.  Have the Nat Guard deliver food. Stop rents/mortgages for that month. 

I need some sleep.

Frondly, Fern

First pandemic Monday in July.

Blessings Darlings!

That sudden windiness at 7 pm was caused by pop-up thunderstorms in various parts of the larger area.  Alas, no rain where I am.  So by 8:30 am today I was out watering the garden again.  And checking for pest eggs. 

The Washington Post - The morning's most important stories, curated by Post editors.

(AP)
Seven-day average case total in U.S. sets record for 27th straight day
Local officials issued dire warnings about the spread of infections, blaming outbreaks on early reopenings and saying the virus was rapidly outpacing containment efforts.
 Ain't we got fun?

I am SO INCREDIBLY PISSED that the US WASTED 3+ months of isolation ... hell, wasted then entire time from the first big warnings about Covid 19 at the end of December/early January until the foreseeable future.  We did half-assed attempts to ask people to isolate, no serious enforcement.  We decided that human lives were less important than money.  And now, no surprise to folks with actual brains, our ICU beds are full again.  Our death rate is HUGE, even with states like Florida refusing to release actual stats on Covid-related deaths.  In 11 more days it will be 4 full months since I've gone out without a mask on.  4 months since I went out for anything other than needed shopping and a few trips to large parks to take walks with my family.   And under our president - who denigrated mask wearing and closing businesses, refuses to put a plan together, has gagged the US experts on infectious diseases, and cut funding for COVID research - and his allies, while I kept myself/my family safe, we are no safer than we were before.  Oh!  As of midnight tonight, masks are mandatory here in WV.  3 1/2 months (at least) later than they should have been declared mandatory.  Wait - it's not a mandate.  It's not enforced.  It's only fucking 'strongly encouraged'.  This is some fucking bullshit.

Oh - and if/when they get a vax for this, they'll be happy if it's only 50% effective. And you can bet that means if it's 50% effective on young healthy folks, not on ... everyone. Cancer survivors with now compromised immune systems? Nope. Folks over 60? Nope. Diabetics? Nope. Folks with asthma? Nope. Lupus? Nope. Fibro? Nope. 

How dry is it? Dust devils swirling in the pasture dry.  This is why I water some things daily (seedlings and the heavy producing squashes.)  

Today is one of those 'hard' days for me.  Depressed, no energy.  But I made my 'to do' list, and am trying my best to work on it.  Paid rent. Paid health insurance.  Worked in garden.  Washed clothes, and hung them on clothes line.  Obviously working on blogging.  Working on exercising ... in small doses at a time.  Dishes are all caught up on.  
It's 96 degrees out, feels like 101 -  and that's not helping, tho' we have AC on set at 81 degrees.   All the cattle - all black angus cattle - are under the trees where it's shady.  Horses are out in the sun, kicking up dust as they walk.  But they look like they are heading in the general direction of some trees themselves.  Fleshy weeds have taken over the garden and pastures, purslane in the garden and spiny pigweed in the pastures.  I might go harvest and cook the leaves on the pigweed next week, and maybe the purslane tomorrow.  

The Spawn found reduced price whole chickens on sale when he went out today (wearing a mask).  I'll stick a can of beer up it's ass, liberally (of course) apply Memphis Rub to it, and throw it in the oven for dinner.  I'll put an insulated car reflector on the oven, too, to keep as much of the heat IN the oven and not radiating OUT of the oven.  It will still end up heating the house, of course, but at least I'll have tried to reduce that.  He had money, so I told him to get the biggest reduced one they had, so we could get the most meals out of one oven use.  I'll throw in baked potatoes for the rest of the week, too, tho' corn will be our starch.

Sheesh - maybe today would be less overwhelming if I didn't have to keep adding stuff to the 'to do' list.  I used the last of the home made laundry powder today, so making more of that is on the list now.

Frondly, Fern

Situations not improving.

Blessings Darlings!

The pandemic continues unabated, so of course the administration is talking about disbanding the group they have working on it.

I went out today - had to get mole/vole repellent for the garden, and also hit Aldi's.  While out I also filled my car's leaking tire and filled it's gas tank.  I guess I'm living large. Also paid the electricity, and my health insurance.  Woo hoo!  I'm living large!

The Chubby Hubby is not willing to eat cooked wheat berries, 'they get caught in my tooth, where the filling is missing'.  Cooked mushrooms also do that to him, but he's happy to eat THOSE in a lovely veloute sauce.  Snort.  Since our full year supply of food is based in large part on wheat berries, this is a serious problem.  Sure, they rcan be ground for flour and baked, and we will be making bread.  BUT - eating cooked wheat berries as parts of dishes, from cold salads to stews and soups and beyond, is important, and saves time/energy.   At the very least, if we have a chance, he's going to have to have that filling free cavity filled.

I DO think that things aren't going to improve any time soon, and clearly we're just seeing the beginning of actual shortages of foods now (rather than panic buying having cleared the shelves.)  Executive orders aren't going to get folks sick with Covid 19 on the job.  I don't know when we'll be able to have his tooth fixed, because we live in a hot spot, and this isn't an emergency ... at this time.

Meanwhile, I'm working on re-stocking the house.  I haven't bought any toilet paper, soap, paper towels, or shampoo for me and the Spawn (did get some shampoo for the CH) at all this year.  And we have gone thru' a lot of our canned mixed veggies and canned mushrooms.  So I'm trying to order them every week.  Haven't had any luck getting most of them yet - Walmart is always out of things.  And Aldi has limits on the things I can get there (like only 4 cans of mushrooms each trip.  We use that many every week.)

Most seeds don't make it to harvest.

Blessings Darlings!

Today's news - meat packing is more important than protecting health care workers to our government.  

Let's turn our pagan/witch attention to something mundane that I mentioned the other day - that I have to be ready to start at least 9 seeds for every plant that I eventually want in my garden.   And even then I might have to buy the plants I want.

We all set goals for ourselves, needs and wants that we are trying to meet.  We do it at the Sabbats, we do it at the New Moons, we do it at our birthdays.  Maybe it's our culture, maybe it's how we're wired.  We . do . it .

But it doesn't always work out. 

The same is true of the rest of nature.  How many babies in a litter of bunnies, just so one might make it to the age where IT reproduces?  How many seeds does one plant put out, hoping that at least one of its offspring plants reproduces in turn? 

Not all seeds make it to adulthood.  Just like not all of our goals do.  You have to build that into your life plans.  Make back up plans, contingency plans.  Buy insurance.  COVER YOUR ASS.

Because sometimes you'll find out that you didn't actually prepare the ground right, and nothing will sprout or mature.  Or a freeze will unexpectedly hit.  Or a flood.  Or you'll have to leave one goal by the wayside because another more pressing issue came up.

Shit happens.  And it happens with extreme regularity.

If you accept that you might have to try three times as hard, invest three times the effort and time and attention than you think a goal will take - you'll rarely be disappointed.  And if reaching the goal takes that minimal amount of time and effort you originally thought, great - nothing was lost by being prepared for more time and effort.

April Ran Away.

Blessings Darlings!

Holy cow - April has run away with out me.  Here it is, practically the end of the month, and I'm WAY behind in getting things planted.  To be fair - I'm always behind in planting.  Every single year.  But I thought that this year would be different, being, ya know, jobless.  I DID get the garden beds more prepared than usual, but I'm totally behind on my seedlings.

This is only PARTLY because the damn pepper seeds didn't sprout.  I always have enough seeds that I can start three times as many seeds as I want plants, and do that three times over.  Today I did the 3rd planting.  With new store bought soil (tho' not soil for seeds).  We'll see how that goes.  I hope it does well.  Otherwise, I'll be buying a dozen pepper plants, some sweet, some hot.  And since I'm TRYING to sprout Anaheim Chillis, I don't know if stores will carry seedlings of them, so if they fail I might end up with jalapenos.  I started both Homestead and Rutgers tomatoes, tho' I'd really rather grow  Brandywines.  But I had seeds for these two types.

I'm only after 4 plants of each of them.  So I've started 12 seeds of each, hoping that 1/3 give me healthy sprouts.  Is that too much to ask?

Maybe.  We'll see.

I haven't even filled the buckets I had the Chubby Hubby drill drainage holes in with manure and straw, much less put the sweet potato slips in them.

News? Corona virus continues.  POTUS has issued orders that doctors don't have to treat gays or transsexual people if the doctors are assholes.  The feds keep stealing PPE from states/cities, and apparently giving them to third parties to sell. And Kim Jong Un, leader of North Korea, is dead. tho' for a while it seemed like he was Schrödinger's Kim. 

Oh, and there was the 'put disinfectant in people to cure COVID 19 episode. 

Meanwhile, I made a mix of the dry spices that go into Golden  Milk, and I'm adding them and some vanilla and sugar to my morning coffee.  I feel I should be ingesting that anyway, and more so with the circulatory system aspects of Covid 19.  I don't hate it, but I don't love it, either.  If I had hot cocoa before bed I might like it better in that, but I do that very very rarely. 

When I made up the mix, I realized I can't find my big container of cinnamon.  So I'll need that sometime soon.  I did find a back up small container, so I'm covered for this week.

Bread is rising here, and I made baked sweet potato 'fries'.  It looks as if the rest of the month is going to be rainy, which will further delay gardening.  Sigh.

Frondly, Fern