He'll Be Home Tomorrow!

 I thought I had a couple more weeks before Om showed up at home again. Nope. He let me know he'll be home tomorrow.

He's the one who cares a whole lot more than I do about a clean house. In fact, my threshold for cleaning seems to be only when I can no longer find things. That takes quite a while. Anyway, I wanted to demonstrate that the house hasn't completely reverted to chaos while he's been away.

OK, it took most of the day today, but you don't understand. Cleaning things up in ONE day used to be beyond possible. My friend Betty always said that she liked to keep her house only a half-hour away from being presentable for company. Haha! I was usually about a half-month away from that condition. But she did teach me a lot about getting organized.

Anyway, I can't find my favorite fall tablecloth (why isn't it where it belongs? Seriously, I'm usually good at getting things back in their homes when they have a home). So I visited our new Hobby Lobby for the first time. I checked out what kinds of things they are stocking here (it's not the huge stores of the big cities). I'm delighted to find that they have a decent fabric and sewing section, and a good selection of yarn. Art and craft supplies, as well as the usual decorative stuff. Well, they had a huge sale on decor, so I did buy a plastic tablecloth for $1.19, and a candle.

Then I got out my favorite fall/harvest/Thanksgiving collection that I bought long ago. Voila!

The dining room is pretty clean. That especially will make Om happy. He really struggled with the mess during the years I was working on the trailer. I have a few things to sort in the living room and vacuum, but the kitchen is done and I have just a few things out of place in the basement (which is really his space).

The only walking that happened today was around stores and the house. But I did get the much-needed groceries. I mean, when you are out of ice cream, lettuce, and bread, it's time to shop!

See Thanksgiving Decor

Some Scottville Flowers

 I managed to do a few things I was supposed to today. And I walked to the Post Office.

Some of these pictures were taken last week, but they are all gardens in Scottville. Still nice color.

This is the Friendship Garden at the Scottville Library.

They also have hydrangeas in this dusky pink color.

And speaking of dusty pink, this is in the Friendship Garden. I had to look it up. I think it's Smooth Oregano, Origanum laevigatum.

This is a lovely annual garden set off nicely with the picket fence.

Well, well, still dealing in dusky pink. This is down the line in that annual garden. It's Celosia 'Terra Cotta.'

Moving along to more formal arrangements, this is one of the planters on Main St. It's getting a little late for the petunias to look good, but the textures and shapes are nice.

And this planter behind the Senior Center is very attractive too. I suspect it's pots set in that box, but that makes it easy care!

Finally, you've seen one of the West Shore Bank gardens in Ludington. Here's one of theirs in Scottville. Similar, but nicer with papyrus and sweet potato vine for more textures.

Tomorrow, I have to severely wean myself off this pet project because I have other things I MUST do. Still haven't gone shopping! (just for one thing)

Miles walked in 2024: 445

See A Few Scottville Pictures

Of Bees, Bugs, and Bites

 I got obsessed with one of my personal pet projects today. If you know me, you know that means I did very little else all day. No walking. The only other thing I did was edit for an hour this morning.

So I thought I'd take this chance to tell you my latest theory on the "bug bites." I don't think they are bug bites. This may be TMI for some of you.

After all that cleaning and spraying and heating and washing of everything that seemed pertinent to the problem... I got in bed that night and within 10 minutes I had two big welts on my butt. OK, no bugs of any kind could navigate from anywhere through a mattress cover, a fitted sheet and pajamas (all washed in 140 degree water) that fast.

I got up and did some more reading. The only other vermin candidate that might be living in some body orifice would be pinworms, and they cause seriously localized itching. Not like what I was experiencing.

However, hives can manifest in ways other than the small rashy red bumps we usually think of. And they can even be caused by pressure.

Here's what I think is going on. The bees and I have been living in a state of uneasy truce. At least it's uneasy on my part.

As a child I was highly allergic to bee stings, to the point where I went through a two-year series of shots to reduce the allergy. I've been stung a few times as an adult, but haven't yet had a bad reaction beyond the usual type swelling and serious itching. However, one can always become resensitized to an allergy, which is why I've felt a little uneasy.

I have no idea how the bees feel about me in general. But specifically, three bees felt quite violent toward me. That's how many times I've been stung since August 4. Granted, they were each aggravated because I "grabbed" them by accident when they were sitting on something I picked up. I was also stung during this same time period by something unidentified that swelled up very badly.

I think my body is generally on high alert with the histamine reactions. An imflammatory response to anything my skin doesn't like is probably being hyperactive. My best guess is heat and pressure. We already know I don't like to be hot. All of these welts have been on my butt or the backs of my legs which are probably the warmest locations at night, and also subject to the most pressure from my weight.

This is my current theory until disproven by something else.

Sitting all day also increases the itchy spots. Guess what I've been doing all day today. Hmm. Oh, my obsession? Well it involves playing with a database. I'm thoroughly happy, but I suppose I'll have to do some things tomorrow that also keep others happy.

Meanwhile, the warm weather has resulted in a huge hatch of houseflies. Buzzy green ones. They don't bite, but they love to fly around my face and drive me insane.

There's a good chance I'll break out of obsession mode, since I really need to get some groceries.

See The Vermin Inspire a Personal Record

An Evening Walk

 It was bell choir day, and I changed things up and ate before practice and walked afterwards. This was a great idea because the days are still really hot. The evening light is always special. I liked this view of the church from the School Forest across the road.

One loop around the forest isn't very long, so I did a few more streets after that. What are these bright flowers around the tree?

They are fall crocus, which isn't really a crocus at all. It's Colchicum autumnale, but the flowers look very similar, thus the name.

I even found another color of them a couple of blocks away.

This very cool rock was at the base of the St. Simon's Bell Tower.

But the shadows were getting long, and the light was hiding.

I walked 1.5 miles in the school forest, and then another 1.5 on streets

Total miles walked in 2024: 442

See Walking Tour de Ludington

A Few Notes from the Rock Garden

 The 'Autumn Joy' sedum still isn't in full bloom, but it looks like it's going to be a dusky deep pink. The other tall sedum, the one with the light purple blossoms is still lovely.

Calico asters have started coming up along the edge of the rock garden, and they are going to get to stay. I think that would look nice if they would establish themselves.

This is the last of the plants I bought at the Garden Club sale. It's another ice plant. This one is 'Granita Orange.' It may be a little less hardy than the other two, but I guess I'll know in the spring. I tore out some of the Sedum sexangulare to put it in. There's way too much of the other.

Finally, just something I never noticed before. I'm pretty sure these are grape hyacinths. They are sprinkled hither and yon all over the rock garden. But I didn't realize they can put up leaves in the fall if the weather is mild. It doesn't hurt them at all. Actually, I'm glad to see some here, because I also added some crocus bulbs to this space earlier this summer. Those should look nice together in the spring.

In other news: I finished marking the edits to How to Hike... Tomorrow, I'll start actually making changes in the file. I have one more week to get this done without a fee. Shouldn't be a problem.

I walked to the Post Office.

Miles walked in 2024: 439

See Sunshine Between the Sprinkles

To Blacksmith Bayou and Beyond

 I took a little NCT hike today with a side walk down into Blacksmith Bayou. The bayou itself is a backwater of the Manistee River. Someone was actually fishing there today.

But you can see the actual river from a bit deeper into the campground.

The piece of NCT I hiked is mostly along the bank on the south side of the river. Today, these tall pines looked nice in the late afternoon light.

This blue-stemmed goldenrod, Solidago caesia, grows along the trail. Most of the time, the stems are darker purpleish, thus the name. Gray goldenrod also has flowers along the stem like this, but the leaves are different.

This is fun. It's the fruit of a mapleleaf viburnum, Viburnum acerifolium. Supposedly you can eat these, but they are better (like many fall berries) after the first frost. I guess I need to find some then and try them. But since they are popular with wildlife, I may have a hard time finding any!

Here's another nice picture of the Manistee River. You can tell that fall is on the way.

The reason I was up that way was to meet with a fellow Michigan Outdoor Writer Association member, Dave Foley and his wife Cyndy. He's doing a feature on me for the Cadillac paper before I speak at the Cadillac Area Land Conservancy in October.

In other news: I managed a little editing in the morning before leaving for this adventure.

Miles hiked in 2024: 436.5. NCT miles in 2024: 130.8

North Country Trail, Manistee Co, MI, from Highbridge to Chicago Rd and back with a side trip to Blacksmith Bayou. 3.6 miles NCT, + 1.2 side trip miles

See Old Trail Section, New Season

Scottville Fall Festival 2024

 Scottville will never completely be able to bring back the "glory" that was the Harvest Festival. Those were huge and deeply rooted in the area's agricultural heritage. Everyone attended. It was a 3-day event with parades, an ox roast, a midway, music, contests, and I don't even remember what all. The streets were packed so full it was even difficult to walk around most of the time.

But the city is trying to recreate some small-town pride and enthusiasm with a one-day Fall Festival. From my perspective, it was moderately well attended. I'll have to wait to hear how the city feels about it. There were lots of activities for kids with pony rides, face painting, games, etc. There was music (the famous Scottville Clown Band, of course, and another group too). there was a dunk tank. I don't know how that was run this time- it used to be that a local celebrity would take the seat and folks would pay for throws to try to drop the person into the water. There were softball and cornhole tournaments. And there were vendors. That's how I got involved. The vendors were not on the main drag, and I suspect there were a lot of people who didn't come all the way to our end.

That said, I did OK. About what I thought I'd sell, but definitely in the black. I got to explain about the North Country Trail to quite a few people.

This was very cute. It's a remote control car operated by the Sheriff's Department. It played various musical numbers, and the dog opened and closed its mouth.

It was a fine day, my only complaint was that it was blazing hot. I took all the food I needed, but I ended up having to buy one extra drink, and that was even after a friend brought me a bottle of water. Thankfully, I was right beside a convenience store, so that was easy.

No walking happened other than setting up and tearing down.

See Wild Blueberry Festival

The Vermin Inspire a Personal Record

 Never in my life (I'm pretty sure) have I deep-cleaned a room twice in one year. However, the mice led me to a complete room cleaning and re-do in February, and the whatever-they-are have caused the cleaning to happen again, just 7 months later. Here is my sports equipment. (Well, OK, not the toaster.)

I took the suggestions of a couple of people and added a spacer between the two layers of mattress and box spring in the car to better distribute the heat. Today there were about 6 hours over 120 degrees inside. I'm hoping those little buggers (literally) baked to death.

I cleaned the whole room, and sprayed with a product made to fight bedbugs (I still don't think that's what I have, but this also kills ticks, fleas, and mites- basically arachnids), and it's stronger than most products. It's only been in the last few years you could buy a home product strong enough to kill bedbugs.

Then I put it all back together again.

If it is some kind of small spider, spiders really don't like peppermint. So there are now cotton balls with peppermint oil in the corners of the room, and it smells like a candy shop. I hope it doesn't drive me out as well as the spiders. Strong odors bother me too.

This was a total shotgun approach, so if there are no more bugs, I won't know what kind they were. But I wasn't going to try one thing, then another, and keep tearing the room apart between each attempt to identify them.

One piece of good news is that I could get the spray and the oil in Scottville, so I didn't have to drive anywhere. I couldn't! To get the bed parts in the car I had to move the seats as far forward as they will go. That made it tight for even shorty me to drive. Thus, another 3-mile walk.

Tomorrow afternoon I'll be selling books at the Scottville Fall Festival.

Miles walked in 2024: 431.7

See The Project - Done See There are No Bugs on Me

There Are No Bugs On Me (I Hope)

 What am I up to now?

Well, when I came home in August, I learned that there was some sort of biting nuisance that had taken up residence in my bed. It does not seem to be bedbugs, although I can't rule that out completely. We (Marie and I have been trying to puzzle it out by phone) thought maybe the mites that affect bees were the problem since I have about 100 new dead bees in the house every day, but apparently that kind of mite doesn't bite humans. I have eliminated about all the logical choices except some kind of mite.

Spray that kills arachnids (ticks, lice, mites) did not get rid of them.

Spray that is supposed to kill ants reduced the population to something less awful, but I'm sure if there were ants in my bed I'd see them.

I was thinking I'd freeze all the bed parts this winter, but if it's bedbugs, they have to be below zero degrees F for four days. Unlikely.

However, any of the bedding-type pests can be cooked at 120 degrees.

Meet my new large oven.

With the temperatures hitting the high 80s today, I thought I'd give a closed car a try. It was over 125 degrees for 8 hours. I'm leaving everything in there one more day for another 6-8 hours of cooking tomorrow.

I washed all the bedding, pjs, etc in 140 degree water. I sprayed the room really well, and will clean it all thoroughly tomorrow after the smell subsides a bit.

Hopefully this will work. I'm really tired of waking up with a whole new set of bites (mosly in unpleasant places).

In other news: I walked to the post office. Didn't accomplish much on my usual projects.

Miles walked in 2024: 428.7 miles

See Bees

Most of the New Plants

 There's purple in my future, no doubt about that. But the only purple you'll see today is my nearly yearly sharing of New England Aster, growing on a roadside.

The rest of what you'll see are all but one of the plants I bought on Saturday at the Mason County Garden Club sale. Three of them will have purple flowers. That wouldn't have been my first choice, but I was specifically looking for tallish plants that would tolerate at least partial if not full shade. I came home with 6 different plants for what I would have paid for the one I was going to order. So, I'll see what is happy here. The ones I'm showing you today have all gone in the Front Bed.

The one I put in the deepest shade is 'Winky' Columbine. It will also get the tallest. This is one of the large ornamental columbines, and the flowers are purple and white. Spring bloomer.

I got a big pot of garden allium (onion), and split it into three clumps. This one, I think, will not get over 2 feet tall (there are giant ones). It went in partial shade at both ends of the front bed. Purple balls of flowers in spring.

The other purple bloomer is Lirope. This gets spikes of purple flowers in the fall. I've never tried any of this, but what the heck. It went in mostly sun with a little shade. There are two species, and I don't know which this is, so that will be next season's surprise. It gets about 18" high. I put it in a space that is kind of empty once the daffodils die back. That should work pretty well.

I have wanted to get another Brunnera. This is the 'Jack Frost' that I have and is established. The one I like best is 'Frostbite,' but oh, well. Not only do these have bright foliage, but in the spring they have tons of tiny blue flowers.

The new one isn't looking very happy yet, but it was probably only dug up last week and then moved twice. The other plants were well-established in their pots. I think they were dug earlier in the season. (and some of the plants were donated by garden centers because it's the end of the season)

My other plant for the front bed was a freebie because it was so sad. This is a 'Mouse Ears' hosta. Indeed, it had two leaves, and one of them fell off on the way home. But if the root is OK, it will be back in the spring. The leaves are small but rounded, and the color is quite blue.

In other news: I worked in the morning and part of the afternoon. I walked the summer taxes to the town hall. Total walking 4.2 miles

Miles walked in 2024: 425.1

See Purple Parade