A Different Life II

[Lily&Me]

That cornbread looks delicious!

And cornbread is so versatile, good for any meal of the day. ☺️

Maggie

[Lily&Me]

It’s that time of year….72 firestarters, made, awaiting the first cold weather of the season.

[Al and Missy]

We have been making fire starters as you described since you first posted about them. They work better than any commercial ones I have tried and are about half the cost.

Thanks!

Al

[Lily&Me]

Hi, Al!

I have learned that it takes very little wax to hold these together, too…just a drizzle on each, and so I got 72 fire starters out of one box of melted wax.

Maggie

[Lily&Me]

I finished this book last night, and it was very good…

https://www.amazon.com/Twenty-Years-.../dp/1496727169

About an investigative journalist, and remains from a 9/11 victim identified 20 years later.

I have been to New York City several times since those events, but not yet been able to get myself to the memorials, as so much emotion wells up in me just thinking about it that I fear I will dissolve into a puddle if I ever set my feet there.

A year or two after this shook our world I purchased a Time/Life picture book on 9/11, which went immediately to a closet in the back bedroom…where it has remained and not once been looked thru.

It seemed right to obtain it for posterity, and so those who don’t actually remember the event… nor feel the emotion of it…can at some point look thru it.

But, not me.

[Lily&Me]

On my to-do list this week was repairing an area of fence that runs along my side yard to the north, it having been up about 20 years and individual pickets rotting, splitting and breaking.

Not only are individual pickets in this size not easy to find, the posts themselves are leaning, so I’ve hired someone to just pull the whole mess and replace it.

It’s time, and he came in at about half of what Home Depot gave as an estimate, so it will hopefully all work out.

Sigh. Widowhood…doing most everything myself, hoping for honesty and integrity out of people I don’t at all know.


It does seem my travel is going to change a bit to meet medical needs, some add-ons and changes here to stay, but to just what extent I don’t yet know.

I have a few months to see how things settle, so we’ll see. I’m just not ready to stay home.

We get older, with its concomitant issues, or we die, is the truth, so I guess getting older is okay.

I’m still upright, with all of my limbs, my eyesight and remain reasonably active, so it could be worse, I tell myself.

A close friend has just been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and begun on Aricept…I can’t fathom facing that, and am so sad for her.


Needing something different to work on, I had this idea that I would do an afghan of maybe 20, 12” granny squares, using 4 different square patterns.

I saw a picture of one of these somewhere, and it seemed a good project…one 12” square at a time for a good while, and something that can be worked on wherever I happen to be.

However, I have determined that is not possible…not for me at any rate.

Finding (free), 12” square crochet patterns, that I liked, that were of sufficient complexity to be pretty and interesting, and that I could also DO proved impossible.

Everyone writes patterns a bit differently, and you get these translated from Norwegian or Swedish or whatever and it just proved more challenging than I could commit to.

If you’ve ever crocheted, it’s not just about following the printed word of a pattern but of being able to see the pattern, itself, early on, to guide you visually.

I had torn out a couple of different square patterns, several times each, felt like I was doing math, my eyes were crossing and I finally gave it up to go back to this Gemstone Lace Blanket pattern that I have made up several times.

It is beautiful, basically one large granny square, and works up as nicely in solid colors as well as variegated yarns.

https://www.thelavenderchair.com/gem...ochet-pattern/

Yarn was on sale at JoAnn fabrics, so I bought four skeins of this and a supply of other lovely yarns as hat and scarf weather is almost upon us.

[farafield]

"Sigh. Widowhood…doing most everything myself, hoping for honesty and integrity out of people I don’t at all know." This. I'm not a widow but I have been single for a long time. And this is the hardest thing, putting your faith in people especially where you're spending a fair amount of money and it's something you need to work, like your car, your water, your roof...You are inspiring to me and I appreciate your writing and sharing because it helps to see someone else doing all the things, all the time, all on your own. Good luck with your fence. It will be nice to have it all shiny and new. Take care.

[Lily&Me]

Thank you, Kim, and it’s always helpful to see others in the same shoes…still upright, still getting things done, mucking thru some things while gliding thru others.

One only has to be burned a time or two by dishonest contractors to become super-cautious, so it’s always a bit of a leap of faith when hiring someone new.

Google reviews are little help these days, one has to go with gut instinct much of the time.

There is a deposit for materials, along with a written contract, so I am hopeful.

And, it will be nice to have it done.

Maggie

[Lily&Me]

We are having overnights in the 40’s this week with highs in the 70’s, so Fall is on its way.

The young man in my neighborhood who cleared out the bed on the south side of the house last spring…and did an excellent job… is going to climb onto my roof and put a few coats of Rustoleum on the chimney for the woodstove.

Then, we will be ready for the first fire of the season.


It’s Friday, so the little house has been cleaned, laundry is done, I’ve made a down payment and signed a contract to replace 40’ of fence …and this little pizza has just come out of the oven.

I’ve made this One Dish Kitchen pizza several times, and not only does it make a tasty item that feeds me three times, but it satisfies for a time that innate need I have to have my hands in yeast dough.

https://onedishkitchen.com/pizza-dough-recipe/

[Lily&Me]

I watched the documentary “Ordinary Men” on Netflix yesterday, and it is worth an hour of one’s time to have this history correction to what is commonly believed about the Nazi “death squads” during WWII.

https://letterboxd.com/film/ordinary...ten-holocaust/

These were not soldiers who had to obey orders or be shot themselves, but were largely made up of volunteer citizens who could…and some did…opt out of any specific “assignment” to execute Jewish citizens.

I’ll not go into detail, but it was very sobering, how “ordinary men” volunteered to become mass murderers, how the group managed and socially punished dissenters. Etc.

Meticulously documented by the Nazi regime…which squads, how many Jewish men, women and children executed at each site.

The film includes footage from the Nuremberg trials, and narration by a then 100 year old attorney who was a prosecutor.



Maggie

[Hittenstiehl]

It's incredible what character flaws or strengths will reveal themselves when a person thinks they have something to gain or lose.

And to think there are people who don't believe this ever occurred.

I support the Nazi hunters who continue to find these wolves hiding under their cloaks.

[Lily&Me]

It is a rainy day at the little house, but given our drought conditions here in central Illinois a deluge is welcome.

I’ve had a can of pumpkin sitting on my counter for several days, waiting for me to feel the urge to make Pumpkin Bread, and I decided this morning that today would be the day.

I love this recipe, as it is basic, not tweaked beyond all recognition…using an entire can of pumpkin, plenty of spices, and all ingredients in common measures…so that one is not trying to figure out what to do with 1/2 cup leftover pumpkin, nor hunting for something to measure 1/8 tsp or some such unusual increment.

https://www.onceuponachef.com/recipe...kin-bread.html

I used half brown sugar, replaced 1 cup flour with one cup of whole wheat, added 2 tablespoons ground flax meal, 1 cup raisins and 1 cup chopped pecans.

Because, why not add to the fiber and nutritive value…and, pumpkin is a yellow vegetable.

My house smells heavenly.

[Lily&Me]

Lily and I ran away for a couple of days…filled a bag with firewood, grabbed a couple of MRE’s from the freezer along with other, bare necessities, and we are camping.

I remain on a very short leash with medical providers, but the RV needed to be driven and winterized, and I badly needed to do something different and self-nurturing.

Got my crochet, books, sweet Lily, already have had a morning fire with my coffee…and we are good.

I’ve realized I can do this any time I take a notion, a couple or three days at a time, tho that is not my usual pattern it seems that pattern is going to change.

Lots of public campgrounds are open year round in my area, even if showers and water access are not necessarily, which can easily be worked around.

Pivot, and punt.


I have been reading “The Searcher”, by Tana French, the last couple of days, and she has become one of my favorite authors.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/...2-the-searcher

She not only has a good story, but knows how to write…which some seem to not know how to do, writing in a rather disconnected manner that leaves one wondering if they passed their high school English Composition class.

Anyway, a very good book.

Maggie

[farafield]

Great idea! Good for you! For various reasons that are thankfully not medical, I have been going on one nighters this summer--about 8 of them I think. It's amazing what 24 hours away can do! And I've been able to discover many new areas of my state. Packing for an overnight is not a big deal so its very low stress and simple. With so many things needing attention at home, spending a bit of time away from them, with nothing to do but walk the dog, read, look for birds, etc. is really restorative.

[Lily&Me]

Thank you, Kim, and it has really been a very nice, and much needed, change of pace.

I had my second cup of coffee with a wood fire yesterday morning, burned thru the bag I’d brought in a couple of hours…I’d originally planned to bring two, but there simply wasn’t room inside if Lily was going to be able to move around at all.

More time outside, extra walks for Lily, a hot meal out of my freezer heated up in the HotLogic.

It was all pretty simply executed, and I will definitely do this again.

Maggie

[Lily&Me]

After 2+ months at home, Miss Lily struggled during our little getaway to get into the Interstate, and onto/off of the bed where she likes to sleep next to her Mama.

Add to that her very careful, slow lowering of her hips as she lays down and sits, accompanied by little oofs and mmpfs, and I decided this morning it was time to get her the glucosamine that I have taken for years, and see if that improves her mobility and comfort level.

She is almost 14, after all.

Ordered, and Chewy will probably deliver tomorrow.

[Nelson428]

Well I surely hope Miss Lilly improves and gets to feeling better soon.

[Lily&Me]

Thank you, Nelson…she’s just old.

I am certain that glucosamine and orthotic levelers have maintained my full mobility and protected my joints from needing replaced, and am hopeful the glucosamine will make her more comfortable.

She’s gotten very vocal in recent months, and is about due to see the vet for her annual exam and vaccines, so we’ll see what he says.

All her bodily functions seem to be working just fine, so I’m inclined to think it’s the arthritis and stiffness that comes with age.

Bless her heart.

Maggie

[mimiandrews]

I gave Blackie that same brand of glucosamine during her last year. I think it helped. She had good mobility to the end. I should probably see about getting some for Olaf. He's 9 now, and that's getting up there for a lab.

[Lily&Me]

Hi, Mimi, and I’m hopeful it will have an effect.

The directions say to double-dose the first 4-6 weeks, so I am thinking she will have some response fairly quickly.

She still walks with me every day, and rips around the back yard after the squirrels and rabbits, but she’s struggling a bit.

98 in dog years, so I guess she’s earned it.

Maggiw