Lifting Our Eyes Heavenward

 
With Daylight Savings Time, it's already completely dark when I leave handbell practice. Although the church is quite new, they chose to add a traditional steeple, and they keep it lit. I just liked the looks, and of course all that it stands for.

	See Rural Splendor
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Hawk Silhouette

 
Just took a little walk out back today. As I keep saying, you never know what goodie will appear. Today it was the red-tail hawk. How do I really know that's what it was with only a silhouette? I heard it say "keeeeeer."



It took a short lap around the field and headed for the cemetery.



I spent most of the day writing Chapter 20 of Dead Mule Swamp Druggist. You can read a good sized excerpt at Joan of Shark.

I'm working really hard at getting back to being a writer who has two other jobs instead of being a working girl who writes a little on the side. I know, it's only been two weeks, so I can hardly claim victory, but that's two weeks of success.

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The Real Reason I Bought the Weed Whacker

 
As responsible as it makes me look, all that whacking of the overgrown lawn was not even on my radar when I bought the nice sharp tool.

What I really had in mind was clearing my trail out back.



I actually did this beginning part with a thin little weed whip we still had. It, however, was old and broke beyond repair after a very short distance.



The section pictured above is the most important part, and I'd never have been able to do it without the new tool. I want to be able to ski "my" track this winter. Going down this hill, without the trail cleared is just plain dangerous. A few years back, the tip of a ski caught under a vine that was just under the fluffy snow and I hurt a knee bad enough that it was the end of skiing for that year. Not happening again. I did a really good job on this section.

At the bottom of the hill, there's a turn.



Headed to go between the pines on the right and an ugly autumn olive.



Made it through there, and on the way to the next hill. There's a bunch of trimming to be done yet, but I can do that after the grass gets knocked down. Yes it's slow. Yes, it's kinda dumb. But I'm getting there.

Well, not really. There's probably no way I'll get it all done before snow flattens the grass, but with that first hill cleared, I'll feel ok about skiing. It's just easier if there was a cut path underneath.

	See First Skiing This Season
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Sunrise Bedtime

 
Here's what it looked like in the east when I went to bed this morning.



And, although they were much closer together last week, the clouds covered their closest conjunction here. Venus is beside the moon with Jupiter much higher. I did see them once, briefly just before their closest. Didn't take a picture because I was hoping for better, but now this is what I must settle for.


And I did see one of the Taurus meteors just as I got home!

Slept almost not at all, felt lousy all day. Never can predict what Saturdays will be like. Oh well.

	See Orange Mist
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That Darned Drawer

 
The single biggest mistake we made when we built this kitchen was the choice of cabinet unit that includes this large, shallow drawer. Looks like a nice flatware and cutlery drawer, right? That's how we used it for a few years.



The weight was just too much for the flimsy quality of the construction, made of pressboard. These aren't the extreme el cheapo kind. True, they aren't premium, but nothing seems to be made well any more. Anyway, the first thing that happened was the bottom of the drawer pulled away from the front. As it turned out, the bottom panel was fine, but the board that backed the decorative front was ruined. So we used the drawer with no front for over a year. Don't ask why. Finally, I cut a board out of plywood and reassembled the drawer, even painted the thing. Here's what that fix looks like. Not the nice vinyl-clad look, but it works fine. Doesn't show on the outside.



So... About two years ago, the plastic piece that holds the drawer runner to the back wall broke. You can read the full saga of that story at the link below. First I flipped it and taped it. That worked for a while until the plastic broke again.



If you remember, or read the other story, I was unwilling to pay an exorbitant price to replace that little fitting. Managed a fix with a screw and piece of string.



That worked pretty well. There was no danger of the drawer track falling, but it worked "funny" because the track could move too much. A few months ago, while cruising a hardware store, I found some generic fittings for under $3. Sold! Today I decided to fix that drawer. Well, the new fittings weren't deep enough, or quite the right shape, but by adding a shim behind, I made it work.



I've now spent more time fixing that stupid drawer than all the other things that have gone wrong in the kitchen, ever. Please let this be the fix that stays fixed! Needless to say, that drawer now holds towels, paper napkins, and plastic tableware only.



But I get to cross something off my list

And I cleaned the drawer, and put away all the tools. Good Shark, good Shark.

	See the fix with the cord described
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