About Pony, Misfits and insurance

I had quite a few suggestions for names for Pony:

Polly 

Pollyanna 

Dapper

Sweetie

Stitches 

Penelope

Percival 

Poindexter 

Pedro

Pooky 

Zipper

Valentine 

I studied the choices, remembering dear old Pony, who lived at the convent where I send the knitted gloves and socks. That was his full name, so I considered it.  

He had a nice paddock where he received his fans and treats, when he wasn't out having illicit adventures in other people's gardens.  And this weekend,  along came Bad Bunny.

So we have Pony Bad Bunny.  Pony for short.

And I got a response from the insurance people confirming that the reason for the sudden premium increase for the house coverage was the cancellation of the auto coverage.  I'm deeply suspicious that the increase is almost exactly what they refunded when I cancelled. Sigh.

Meanwhile, Misfits seems to be an afternoon delivery for Ronald.

I usually try to do a bit of catch-up before deliveries. I had a piece of good ginger in the fridge, and wanted to be sure to process it before it got dry.  Not cheap.

Enter the microplane and paring knife, and now I have two containers of ginger in the freezer ready for use 

Minced probably for cake, diced for Wil Yeung recipes. I don't bother peeling since the skin has a lot of flavor and works fine.

Then Ronald arrived with a small order this week, in a rental van, I wonder if the pink truck came to grief on the ice.

The "meet the family" card back there is about eggs, which I didn't order this week. Maybe it's to remind me.

Canned goods plus honey for the food pantry, honey for me too, Rockit apples like little jewels, olive oil because I'm clean out, blueberries to go with the yogurt, yay my favorite yogurt was back in stock this week, green olives because that sauce was great and I'm up for making it again, only with the "right" olives, tuna for tuna melt and salad, different ketchup because the other wasn't available. 

I already have things like diced tomatoes chickpeas, cannellini beans, so I'm catered for.  It's all good. This evening dinner will be i stew of chickpeas and diced tomatoes flavored with that olive sauce.

Happy day everyone, congratulations to Minneapolis for apparently defeating ICE. For now.

When we get rid of this brutal bunch, we'll have people like those brave souls in Minneapolis and other cities to thank for showing us how it's done. And we will never forget the people who gave their lives and health and safety.  

To honor them, we'll keep pushing,  in every way we can think of. As exhausted, traumatized families eventually get back from concentration camps in Texas to home, they'll still need help.  Local organizations will still need donations. We're not at the end, just at the end of the beginning. 

Still my flag. We'll retrieve it from the mud and clean it up.

New knitting for me

I started this long shaped scarf with this yarn. I've made several of these for other people!  My turn, thanks to R for reminding me I can have nice things.

 I'm adapting the pattern to use straight needles because I don't have a circular. Maybe I once did when I made this before.

Anyway 

Happy camper here. I just wanted to explain a bit about my hand issues, in case you're getting the impression I'm smiling through pain. 

My hands don't hurt. They tire, the tissue is old and worn away with decades of close work. So the tendons jump and jolt a bit, and my fingers jam,  which makes fine work tricky. But it's all good, not complaining here.

I switch to whichever fiber art is easier at the time, good thing I have choices.

And today I got my home insurance bill. It's doubled since last year. I put in a message to the agent asking what? 

I suspect wo things have happened. Rates have risen and I've cancelled my auto insurance which I had had bundled with the home insurance to get a better rate. But I still think it's spite!

In the same mail I got the form which I can use to apply for several real estate tax and homeowner rebates at once. Good, I'll need it. 

I pressed all my electeds today to hold fast against $$ for ICE, and to vote down the SAVE and MEGA bills. That was before dawn, catching them early. 

And I thanked Booker for voting against the bad crypto bill. Good to catch them doing something right.

There's always something to dance about. 

Simple stuff like today was in the 30s f, so I got a walk. It was the maiden voyage of The Boots I stretched and have been practicing with at home before launching them. They move differently from shoes because of being up around my ankles, so I have to get used to it.

Enjoy your day sez

Ted, Big Ursy and Bad Pony! 

Wednesday, where'd you go?

Lovely gentle rain and cool, the garden loves it

This rain is the edge of Erin, and we may have more wind and rain soon. 

Since I don't like to walk in the rain, I did an indoor yes2next, twenty minutes of moving to 80s tunes, of which I knew just one! (I got you, babe, Sonny and Cher).  

This was definitely a workout. It's the continual movement, unlike my outdoor walking, which is brisk, but with stops to look and listen and take photos.

So my afternoon plan, to listen to a Shedunnit podcast and stitch my linen, didn't happen, because I closed my eyes after lunch for just a minute. 

Then I woke up in time for tea and honey toast. I get the Shedunnit newsletter and finally got around recently to listening to the podcast which I found on Spotify, then I signed up to continue. I'll continue later.

What did happen though, was that I remembered to take the pictures of the kantha stitched purse 

You can see the clever strap, cording with a section of quilted fabric where it crosses your shoulder. And it's lined. You can see the size by comparison with my gnarly old hand.

This is an easy project for you, Mary Ann, so I hope you do make it. It's a nice gift, too, especially  if you slip a little something in.

Wednesday evening online with friends. It's all go. Except when it's stop and sleep..

Happy day everyone, I'm learning that sleeping isn't time wasted, it's refuelling.

I had ideas to talk about retirement and other things which can wait till another day. Also the insurance company suddenly called and texted and emailed to say the house estimate had been revised upward, and approved,  and they're sending me more $. 

Since I paid the bill already I wonder if the contractors will be back with another bill. But I'll have the money to pay it, so fine.

More early morning getting stuff done, later all bureaucracy

Early morning, this is getting to be a good habit, walking around the neighborhood. I was hugely cheered when I met a mellow little Boston terrier named Oreo! Lovely chat with his old Indian gentleman clearly devoted to Oreo.

Then around, greeting the early morning walkers and home to shower and catch up on line. But first I lugged the big potted lavender plant through the house and onto the patio. 

It's safer there and we'll see how it goes. That was a bit of exertion, but I survived. My yes2next habit is paying off. I'll need to repot it now the roots have been torn out of the ground by my car.

It's going to be quiet, with Gary away for two weeks, but there's a good side to that. It's especially quiet since his phone is dead and he can't get his new one set up. Can't make or receive calls, everything going to the old phone and irretrievable. At least my phone is working anyway.

No sudden irruptions with ideas, requests to look at this and that, hold that wire, identify this poison ivy etc.  

Yesterday  he dashed in, with a cup of tea, didn't want to put it on the coffee table, grabbed a handful of MY HANDMADE FIBER CORDAGE and asked if he could rest his cup on it for a coaster.. he also does wonderful things for me, so there's that balance. But a few days downtime is good.

Home again I needed a second breakfast 

Cheese and cilantro omelette.

Then a lot of the day was spent dealing with a blizzard of texts and emails from the auto insurer. I checked with the body shop, who hadn't got them yet, then forwarded them so they could get on with the repair. 

Then, after I called the insurer to double-check they were paying the shop direct, got another message that they'd mailed a check to me. Soooo I'll settle with the shop myself. I forwarded that info too. 

It's easier to do it myself than with help, full disclosure. Saves discussion and debate. I'm used to doing my own follow up and now I'm recovered to the point of managing things again.

At first I really needed neighbors making calls, most appreciative. Gary was stunned once I got going again, that I knew how to do DocuSign! Folks, I'm old, I'm not a dinosaur.

Then there's the air conditioner at the condo. This being Handsome Tenant's day off, he was pursuing it, again, and got a tech out Wednesday. I was not thrilled he's having to use his one precious day off, but I can't be there.  

Later: tech did a repair, but heat pump needs to be replaced. They'll be in touch. Sad, but not surprised. It's 23 years old, beyond its lifespan.

I'll make sure there's cake for next time I see him. 

So that was Wednesday. Still waiting on the house and the exterminator. Once all this is done I won't know what to do with myself. So much free time. Maybe I'll solve some age old mathematical mystery.

Evening was a good time online with my friends.

And on to more important things. I'm considering how to shape the basket, I mean technically. I know what shape I want to achieve, and I need to figure out how to get there. 

I think I know how but we'll see if my bright ideas translate. Sometimes materials, especially fiber, do unexpected things. It can be for the better. We'll see.

In the afternoon I had an invitation from the local artists group I founded long ago to send a piece to their October group show. I haven't exhibited in ages, so I'll have to look something out.  I'm amazed they remember me.

Happy day everyone. You got this, sez Queen Ferluffy.

Wordy Wednesday

After Gary kindly helped me this morning dispose of the deceased microwave, and offered to pick up a new one wherever I ordered it from, I got off on my walk before it got too hot. 

The wild daylilies are out near the pond 

And it seems early for the fungi I'm seeing, probably the wet spring and recent days of rain. 

Home again and there's an apprentice mechanic next door, showing a keen interest in what's under the hood.

When they were leaving she ran to the driver's side and had to be redirected to the passenger seat. Quite ambitious.

I'm decluttering the kitchen of things that belong outside, such as clay pots and saucers, and in the recycle, such as old tin cans, unusable metal baking dishes, an oven thermometer which is impossible to read, terrible design, plastic algae ridden containers. To name a few. 

It's looking better, still a lot of stuff, but I use everything that's now on the shelves, the best criterion.

I recently noted a YouTuber I like very much,  a simple-living non dogmatic, good natured Dutch woman, pointing out that there can be an addictive element to winnowing. 

Now that's an interesting thought, and may well be true and worth a moment. When it gets to be an activity for its own sake, rather than a useful improvement, hm, that's a thought.

I like to do it with care, and I have little respect for attaching numerical goals, so many items per day, over so many days. That seems more of an invented fad than a useful way of working.   

It might also be useful for a person who agonizes and can't get organized. Not judging here, just thinking.

And while I'm thinking, here's another think*

bundled car and home policies for a better deal. 

* I lost wifi in the middle of a thought so I made a screenshot to avoid having to rewrite, hence the different appearance of part of this paragraph. Back to the narrative:

And after we finished talking I felt a whole lot better.  I think it wasn't loneliness after all, it was feeling untethered. Being asked for information drew me right back in as an active neighbor. Ah. Claro.

Happy day everyone, what's your take on any or all of these random bits of trivia?