Bewildering Balderdash

Let's see ... lots of stuff has been going on lately!

Oh. Maybe I should post a little more information than that, eh?

On Friday, I took an acquaintance hunting at a mutual friend's place. We didn't see any deer, but with the temperature in the mid-to-upper 60 degree range, it was certainly a darned nice day to be in the woods. Of note, was a red-tailed hawk landing very close to said acquaintance and him getting to watch the hawk take out a squirrel.

My current knitting project is a pair of mittens for daecabhir made with one of the lovely yarns that 1painter42 gave me for xmas. It took me a little while to figure out the pattern, once it gelled in my brain, things went very fast. One mitten is done and I'm working on its mate now.

Yesterday ~ not only did my amazing man do practically all of the cooking, but he made pumpkin scones for us. They're yummy, of course. We also had an impromptu calzone since the pizza dough was not cooperating for the chef.

This weekend finds us putting away holiday decorations and planning for our ninja project.

We'll start off our update with knitting news. Three more knitting things were learned today - a crochet cast on, the flat knit stitch and the purl stitch. You know as in, "knit one, purl two". I feel so crafty. Project number seven is underway, another hat - but this one is for me with yarn that daecabhir got me for our anniversary.

I've not been knitting for very long and I am just now learning more stitches ... so imagine my complete and utter surprise when not one but two folks asked if I am taking orders for hats!  Wowzers. I sure hope I can create something to their liking.

The fencing contractors showed up bright and early this morning.  The emphasis is on early since they showed up an hour earlier than we had been told to expect them! Joe, the owner, took time to explain things like section spanning and why we need a thicker post for the dip in the woods, etc. The three-man crew managed to get all the posts set, the top rail installed and the bottom coil wire affixed. They'll be back tomorrow morning to string the fencing, hang the gates and tighten everything up.

I was already feeling pretty good about our choice of fencing contractor when, in the course of our conversation, Joe mentioned that he had a kiln that he was willing to give me. For free. If they can fit it on the truck tomorrow with the wire, they just might deliver it to. It's been sitting in his garage for several years; given to him by a customer who had only used it a few times. He has the manual for it and everything.

::: keeping my fingers crossed :::

Once the morning's fog burned off and the sun came out, it turned out to be a very pretty fall day. I took advantage of that and sat out in the woods for an hour or so. Apparently even the deer get confused by daylight saving time because they failed to show up.

No luck in finding the doe that I hit last week. This is the most frustrating part of hunting. Fortunately it does not happen that often to me; I seem to hit them fatally with a quick drop or just outright miss them. In this case, I saw the bolt stuck in her as she turned and ran. I can only hope that the bolt came out and she was left with a shoulder wound. Optimistic, I know.

With nice fall weather in place, I sat out again on Thursday the 20th but didn't see anything.

Last night I was in my spot once more and had two young deer come into the drain field. They didn't see or smell me and I waited for them to move into my firing line. Once the first deer was in my scope, I took the shot - the deer jumped like it was spooked, not hit, and ran, but not horribly fast with the second deer trotting into the woods after it. I lost sight of the first deer but the second deer stopped once it got into the tree line and stayed there for quit some time. As I was taking off my mask and gloves, I heard a snort and knew that a third deer was close. Turned out that deer number three was a good-sized doe and most likely the dam of the two young ones. She stood for a bit in the woods and had I been armed with a reloaded gun instead of a crossbow, I could have taken her.

There was no blood or obvious sign of hitting the deer. I looked for a bit in the woods and went back to find my bolt to see if it had any clues. No blood on the bolt at all. Looks like I either went over it or under it. Once I got the bolt inside, I found two hairs stuck in the blade, but nothing else.

The scope needs a new battery and once that is installed, I'll be spending some quality time with my target and practice bolts.

The three deer that I saw last night are not part of the same two that were in the yard last week which is promising.

The day started off with heavy rains and horribly dark skies that left me wanting to curl up under a blanket and read (which I actually did for a bit). By afternoon the skies had mostly cleared and while the sun was a welcome sight, I couldn't seem to shake the lethargy brought on by the morning's weather.

Even though it was a bit windy, I decided to try sitting out in the yard again to see if the deer would come through again. I think the wind kept them hunkered down since all I saw was a cardinal and a squirrel. I stayed out until I grew cold; I have to admit that it's nice to have a short walk back to warmth!

daecabhir and I are getting ready for our next-to-last weekend of MDRF (well, at the moment _he_ is the one getting stuff ready since I am sitting here at the keyboard with a hot cup of chamomile tea. Hopefully the crowds will be plentiful and in a buying mood.

Bed time will hopefully come soon.

The wind finally died down here so I went this hunting this afternoon. Didn't see much but it was a nice day to be in the woods all in all.

My big accomplishment of the day (okay, so things are a little relative for me at present) was completing my very first ren faire skirt. My most wonderful sister dreamtigress taught me how to make them and now that the navy blue skirt is done, I have three more to sew since I went a little nuts buying pretty skirt fabric.

Perhaps in a fit of insanity, I applied for a job in Maryland that is close to daecabhir's place. There doesn't seem to be many jobs in the area that I can apply to and actually pay my bills so it seemed like the thing to do.

Ah well ... is it Friday yet?

Yes, dreamtigress I'm a dork. Just saving you some time. LOL

Didn't find any jobs to apply to today. /sigh

The weather was a bit on the raw side so I skipped hunting. Seems I feel more compelled to do nesting-type activities in the house instead this week. Why couldn't I have had the month of October free instead? Bowhunting in the warm weather is so much better than freezing my arse off.

The shorter days are really having their impact. It's still dark at 7 pm and the dogs are ready to be fed at 4 pm. Daylight savings time is this weekend and the best part about that is that it means I get an extra hour of daecabhir.

Yes, dreamtigress I'm a dork. ::: eye roll :::

After spilling green tea on my desk this morning, I managed to turn it into a several hour affair that consisted of me not only cleaning my desk thoroughly but re-routing all the cables and getting the surge protector back off the floor. After double-checking the big Samsung monitor, I am afraid it's dead; it just won't stay running for more than a minute. bleh

As part of the desk cleaning exercise, I made the executive decision to pack up my second PC. Since I never got the router working it's not that big of a loss and gives me more room on my desk.

Managed to get a print framed that has been hanging around for a while. Just some pretty irises from a calendar, but I really like them. One day I will have to re-do it, but I think it's fine for now. One of these days I will get my huge Whistlejacket framed and my even bigger Seabiscuit theater poster put up some how.

Life is good.

Okay, it's becoming sort of humorous in a macabre way ... my boss has yet to speak to me about my resignation from production/operations and what (if any) plans she might have for me. Maybe she thinks that if she ignores me I will go away. Guess what. I will!

muhahahaha

My attorney emailed me to say that she was dropping the documents that she has into the mail to me and has submitted the name change order to the court so that they can correct it.

Enjoyed a half dozen figs from the tree tonight. If I am lucky there may some more ripe on Monday when I can check the tree again.

Only two more weekends of faire to go. While I will miss it greatly, I am looking forward to sleeping in, getting some things done around the house, and going hunting.

Turns out the girl with the beagle puppy needs to prove ownership of him because she has split from her beau and he is threatening to take her to court over the dog. Told her that I will gladly help her out. hehe

Another Thursday finds me in Fredericksburg at a doctor. What an unusual habit I have made of this.

Today I saw Dr. Truong for my back. Since I was sort of dreading the thought of more trigger point injections, I was ecstatic when she said that she was pleased with my progress and range of motion. YAY! She says she does not see need to see me back unless I need to see her.

As we were wrapping up, she placed her hand on my shoulder near my neck. She gave me a light squeeze and I saw the look on her face change. She felt around my neck and told me that the muscles were as tight as steel. She asked me about my history of neck injuries (just a few, including falling off horses and demolition derbies) and then inquired about headaches (which I get). We discussed treating my neck and I agreed wholeheartedly.

Of course, I am going back next THURSDAY. LOL

From Dr. Truong's office I went straight to have X-rays of my neck taken. The X-ray tech was awesome and we talked X-ray processing and then she let me take peek at my films. The contrast of X-rays today just blows me away. When I was taking X-rays back in the 80's it was nothing at all like today! The tech asked me about shooting pains in my arms (which I don't have) and then about my hands going numb (which happens a lot).

Looks as though I have a lot to look forward to with my upcoming visit(s) to Dr. Truong so that she can treat my neck.

After the X-rays, I hit Ukropps in the hopes that they would have a killer selection of bread flours. What a let down! While they did have some fun flours, their selection of rye flour, vital wheat gluten and such was poor. My big find of the day was ruby red grapefruit from Texas (they're sweeter than the ones from Florida). Trader Joe's and Wegmans are next on my list of places that should have good bread flour sections.

Once I got home, I rushed about so that I could do a little hunting since the temperature was around 60 degrees. With a bit of a breeze blowing, I opted not to get in the tree stand (go figure) and went to a property right down the road from us. While it was a relatively nice evening to be in the woods, I did not see a thing ... no deer, no squirrels, no birds.

On my way out, however, I saw a deer about to cross the driveway in front of me.

The deer stopped. I stopped.
The deer stared at the Endeavor. I stared at the deer.
The deer stood there still as a statue. I was trying to figure out if I could climb over my seats to get my rifle.
The deer stood there looking at me. I turned off the Endeavor and opened the door very slowly.
The deer stayed put. I crept to the back of the back of the SUV.
The deer was still standing there! I opened the hatch and loaded the Kimber.
The deer was - unbelievably - still there! I came out from around the back of the Endeavor and shouldered my rifle.
As I was trying to get the deer in the sights ... it wandered off into the woods.

So close ... yet so far!

Brian and I went hunting this morning across the road; we have permission to hunt 160 acres. I set up not far from the pond that I caught my catfish in and Brian jacked up in a tree down by the Rappahannock River.

Brian heard a couple of deer jump into and cross the river. He eventually shot a doe from this group. There lots of dogs running deer and shots going off often. I even had one hound who had lost his pack come by me.

Even though I had many layers of clothes on, I ended up catching a chill - the kind that stays with you all day. Seems that I have spent the rest of the day trying to warm up. Since I was still chilled, I skipped going out in the afternoon.

The weather is still basically dreary here. Between not being very sleepy last night and a rainy morning, I skipped hunting this morning. Brian saw two does, but did have a shot at either of them.

I was hoping to visit 1painter42 at her show today (and many thanks for the phone call this morning!) but I have been taking it easy today.

Puttering about the house has suited me just fine. I have a pot of sauce (homemade) cooking with some Italian sausage for dinner today. Sent a get well card off to a friend with broken leg and called to thank Brian's Uncle Lavern for my birthday card and gift. Changed some light bulbs, ran the dishwasher ... piddly stuff like that and taking time to rest between chores.

Young Mr. Rat (who still needs a name) seems to be doing okay. He's eating and drinking and certainly pooping and peeing. Tucker only whines when Young Mr. Rat moves about or I pay some attention to our little rodent friend.

The sun was supposed to make an appearance this afternoon but is so far standing us up. A little sunbeam would be so nice right about now!