You're Doing It Wrong

It’s Always Cocoa Time

Posted on November 2, 2020 by Pamela

Back in 2006, the first time I posted every day in November, I posted the Hot Cocoa Ceremony.

I still do this, more or less. Hot chocolate and homemade apple pie are my 2 favorite foods. If it’s cool and gloomy even in August I will make this.

I no longer use a standing blender, I use a stick blender but I mix it in a container. I tried one time to blend it in the cup and it did not go well. Don’t bother trying yourself.

I never add cayenne or vanilla.

During the Covid I came perilously close to running out of cocoa so next time I saw it at the grocery store I grabbed two kinds. My recollection was that the Dutch process was better.

With the two above choices the Hershey’s is miles better.

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The Mold Will Get You

Posted on November 1, 2020 by Pamela

How did the pioneers keep their squash from getting bloopy? I followed all the steps for keeping squash and I keep finding mold spots. I already processed some of the smaller ones. Now this guy.

The big red kuri is looking a little spotty, too.

I’m roasting them and putting them in the freezer so it’s not the end of the world but it wasn’t a project I had on my list for this weekend.

I don’t love Halloween and I’m glad families are keeping safe but I was a little heartbroken. For the first time in 20 years we didn’t have one single trick-or-treater. The candy is hidden in a secret spot.

I gave myself an easy goal — I’m going to try for 25K on a new project. Here we are after day one:

1050 / 25000 words. 4% done!

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Can’t Let Your Guard Down

Posted on October 30, 2020 by Pamela

Before the freeze.

Yesterday I inadvertently answered a spam call on my cellphone. In the last 24 hours I have gotten 15 more spam calls — all spoofed with different numbers. I’m using an old phone so I don’t have access to all the latest spam blockers but I installed something yesterday. I also kept my phone in airplane mode for long parts of the day.

What an aggravating pain.

After the freeze.

In 2006 I joined the first National Blog Posting Month “NaBlo” and almost every year since then I have posted every day in November. Sometimes it’s just photos or a quick quip. I also usually do a modified version of National Novel Writing Month. I would love to do something but I’m still in a slump and I don’t want to stress myself out making myself write something when I’m feeling so unraveled.

I’ll think about it and maybe make a simple goal.

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Raccoons Still Busy Out There

Posted on October 16, 2020 by Pamela

I put the bucket away and moved the camera closer to the house. I figured I would see much. I was wrong.

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October Garden

Posted on October 12, 2020 by Pamela

My computer situation has become a big enough pain in the butt that I bought a new computer. Normally I would pick up my computer at the Apple Store but there is no Apple Store downtown right now. When I purchased it, it was supposed to be delivered next month.

Then I received notice it would be delivered on the one day neither of us would be available to be here.

This is the flower area. It still looks pretty good.

My notice said I could click to make adjustments to my delivery. I clicked and was sent to a page that confirmed, yes, I was scheduled for a delivery and if I need to make adjustments, I should enter my numbers and click here. I entered and clicked and was sent to a page that said, yes, deliveries are a thing that happen and to click here for more information about my delivery. It sent me back where I started.

I had to phone.

I picked every tomato I thought had a chance of turning red. Also: oh my, that window. It seems like everything is extra gross since the smoke.

If you’ve called any customer service line recently, you already know that a robot makes you talk to it and says it can understand full sentences and then it understands nothing and just gives you information that you already have. Once I got through to a person, TylerJustin he said I really needed to talk to UPS because it was in delivery mode now.

I talked to the robot at UPS who was convinced I needed a pick up and no matter what I did, she tried to get my address so she could schedule the pick up. I yelled at her until she reluctantly sent me to a real person. Oh, but my computer is coming from overseas, did I want to be transferred to the international UPS customer service?

Why the hell not?

Here’s what happens if you empty an old envelope of “assorted squash” into your garden and rake it around.

That person helpfully let me reschedule gave me a 13 digit case number.

Two minutes after we finished my cellphone rang and local UPS told me that they couldn’t really reschedule but we could leave a note on the door to tell the UPS driver not to leave it if we weren’t there.

Maybe this could work. But also, maybe not. I don’t trust anyone to do anything right in 2020.

We talked some more and we were able to arrange for the computer to be held and we will pick it up.

I would end on a triumphant note but let’s see if this all goes to plan first. I will report again in a week or two.

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More Raccoons

Posted on October 4, 2020 by Pamela

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The Latest

Posted on October 3, 2020 by Pamela

Two nights ago I got a bunch of great clips of the raccoons playing around the bucket. I found out about another product that might help with the fogging but haven’t bought it yet.

I’m going to save a bunch of these clips for November when I do my post-a-day.

I had an unexpectedly chaotic second half of my day yesterday so I never dealt with the camera or raccoon playground. The card was still in my computer and I had loosened the camera strap with the intention of repositioning it. I never refilled the bucket.

The bucket had been dragged around.

The camera looked like this.

Those little rascals got their hands on the camera. I may wake up one morning and find the camera has disappeared.

In other news: I finally updated my email but whatever I did to back-up the messages did not back-up the inbox. When I’m awake in the middle of the night I fret about this but there’s nothing to be done now.

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Complications

Posted on September 27, 2020 by Pamela

I have so many clips of the raccoons stirring the water in the bucket, jumping on the bucket and then dunking their front legs, walking by but pausing long enough to take a drink and play with the water.

I had planned to write an actual post tonight but my computer is actively dying and everything I do makes it stall. I’ve spent all weekend restarting and disk repairing and shutting down programs which then sputter and insist on updates that make the whole machine slog along.

It’s been super aggravating.

I need to buy a new one but need to do some homework.