New Shoe Blues

Over the summer I bought two pairs of shoes for fall. Both pairs fit well in the store. Both pairs were on clearance. Both pairs were a final sale.

Ready to ramble!

It's finally cooled off enough to think about anything other than sandals and flip flops, so I was excited to start wearing my new shoes. The first time I put on the tan pair they fit like a glove, and took me throughout my busy day with no issues. However, I wasn't so lucky with the grey ones. Even though they were comfortable in the store, in my closet the shoe's tapered toe boxes didn't leave my toes any room to wiggle.  Not good!

I tried walked around the house a couple of times while wearing the shoes, then gave up and changed into tennis shoes. I'm not giving up on them yet, though. Hopefully after a little breaking in they'll be as comfortable as their closet mates.

Five years ago today: Sausage, Anyone?

Fall Foliage Map

If you live in the United States and like to see the leaves changing at this time of year, you might want to check out the fun interactive Fall Foliage Prediction Map.

The slider bar at the bottom of the map has two-week increments from the end of August through mid-November. Clicking on a date will show you the status of the leaf color in any area of the country.

The map uses historical data and forecast predictions from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to make an educated guess about peak timing, and according to the website, is "the ultimate visual planning guide to the annual progressive changing of the leaves."

Five years ago today: Presentation Is Everything....

Time Sure Flies!

Today is Grandson Jay's second birthday.

Last year Hubby Tony and I were there to help celebrate. Son Brian and DIL Nicole have a small house, with room for only one set of guests at a time, so this year the 'other' grandma (Nicole's mom) got that privilege. However, over the weekend Tony and I got to FaceTime with Jay as he opened the package we sent him.

I had a great time at the store picking out two books I thought Jay would enjoy. One had artistic, attention-getting colorful illustrations. The other featured trucks...dump trucks, bulldozers, excavators, cement mixers, cranes, and haulers. I figured I knew which one would his favorite, and I was right.

(During our our last visit we found out that Jay was truck crazy. His favorite sticker books featured the big vehicles. In the car pointed out every one we passed on the road. At home, he would run to the window every time he heard the trash truck go by.)

As we wrapped up the call I heard Jay flipping through the pages of the book, excitedly pointing out the trucks on every page. I suspect that if he has his way that book will be in regular rotation at his house for quite some time.

Clip Art Extras

Five years ago today: Presentation Is Everything....

Famous In Their Field

Hubby Tony was off work today. I had a lunch assignment to do. I invited him to come with me, and we made a day out of it. Our first stop was the pharmacy to get flu shots. Next, because the weather was still abnormally hot and humid (with a forecast in the upper 80s Fahrenheit) we went to the mall I used to work at and walked several laps. After that got boring Tony suggested we drive to the area by the restaurant and walk around there. We found out it wasn't too bad as long as you stayed in the shade, and the Central West End area has a lot of mature trees.

As we were walking I suggested popping into the World Chess Hall of Fame.  It's been there since 2011. We've walked by it many times, but had never gone in until a couple of months ago, when I spent some time checking out the merchandise in the gift shop. Tony agreed that it sounded like a fun thing to do.

It's hard to miss the Hall of Fame building, as it has the World's Largest Chess Piece (according to Guinness) standing out front:

World's largest chess piece (2018)

There's also a very big chess board painted on the ground next to the chess piece, with pieces so large you have to pick them up with both hands.  Tony and I  started in the gift shop browsing through the dozens of types of chess sets and other chess-related merchandise. When we heard the receptionist tell another group of visitors the museum was free to visit we decided to take a look ourselves.

The Hall of Fame is in a three story building. The first and second floors each have an art gallery. Today the main level held an exhibition of mixed media panels. The second level had a display of Harry Benson photographs, including a series he had taken of Bobby Fischer in the 1970s, ones he had taken at this year's Sinquefield Cup (which is an international chess tournament that's held at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis across the street from the Hall of Fame), and a selection of photos of celebrities, presidents, and royals.

I'm not a chess player, and the Hall of Fame on the third floor was (to me) the least interesting part. However, if you knew a lot about the game I can see where it would be very inspirational. The room had plaques for each of the members of the U.S. and World Halls of Fame, and there were many artifacts and trophies on display. Tony and I were the only ones in there, and there was a knowledgeable docent that was able to answer all of my questions.

After looking around the whole building we realized we were hungry and decided to head to lunch. Once outside I looked at the chess board and thought someday I might come back and see if I could figure it out.

Five years ago today: Gratitude In All Things

On The Level

For several months there's been a visible void underneath the right side of our front porch. One day I noticed a critter running into the hole, and Hubby Tony and I put the problem on the "we'll get around to fixing it someday" list. Then we noticed that the walkway leading up to the porch was cracking and one of the slabs was sinking, and the problem moved up a little bit on the "someday" list. However, the day I tripped and almost fell on the uneven walkway the project rose to the top of the list.

Years ago we had porch mudjacked. The contractors drilled holes in the porch, then poured in a concrete slurry which was supposed to support it. That worked for a while, but eventually most of the slurry washed out from under the porch and down the incline on the side of the house. Based on that past bad experience I started looking around for other solutions to our problem.

About that time we got a packet of direct mail coupons. Included was one for a company that did polyjacking. I did some research, and found out the process used expanding polyurethane foam instead of a slurry to lift up concrete. After checking out the company's credentials we signed a contract to have them do the work.

The technician came out this week. I was not able to watch his progress closely, but I understand it looked something like this:

Now our porch and walkway are nice and level. The void is filled and no critters will be able to hang out in there. I hope that this is the last time we have to deal with this issue.

Five years ago today: What's In Your Bin?

Trucking

Somebody more in the know than me pointed out that today (October 4th) is National Trucker's Day. And, in honor of the shortened 10/4 date, it's also National CB Radio Day.

In recognition of the days, here's a classic song, and the trailer from the 1978 movie that was made from it.

Will Summer EVER Go Away?

The chart from today's paper says it all:

St. Louis Post-Dispatch

For the foreseeable future the temperatures here will be well above average.  What a drag!

A little over a week ago things cooled off, and I thought we'd seen the last of Summer. I opened opened up the house, and enjoyed the series of warm days and brisk evenings. Thinking that Fall was here to stay, I got one of my two bins of winter clothes down from its shelf in the closet. I never found the time to empty it, though, and on Sunday I put it back on the shelf (since I won't need those clothes for a while).

As you can tell from the chart, things have been heating up for a couple of days. Yesterday the middle of the afternoon was a tad uncomfortable, but by bedtime there was enough of a breeze to make things bearable. I enjoyed one more night of falling asleep and waking up to the sounds of nature.

This morning it was still nice, and I thought that maybe 'they' had gotten the forecast wrong. However, by lunchtime it was sultry in the house. The woodwork felt sticky from the humidity, and since I knew the temperatures would only get worse I closed up the house and turned the air conditioner back on. I know the mini heat wave is only temporary, but it's cramping my style.  In this area October is supposed to be about hikes, hayrides, hoodies, and hot cider.  Not shorts and sandals. 

Five years ago today: Mall Miscellany

A Ten Dollar Word

Tonight I was sitting on the couch using my laptop, and Pepper the cat was laying on the couch next to me. All of a sudden I heard some loud rumblings coming from his general area and realized that it was his stomach gurgling!  I've never heard that happen before.

Pepper seemed to be a little embarrassed by all of the din coming from his body.  He jumped down from the couch and walked to the other side of the room, where he plopped down on the floor and glared at me.

Because I could, I immediately opened up a new browser tab and searched for "cat stomach gurgling". The first result of my search was the article Gurgling Sound in Cat's Stomach at Animalwised.  There I learned that the medical name for the sound was borborygmus.  That was actually more interesting to me than the actual causes of the problem, which could be anything from eating too fast to digestive tract disorders or inflammatory bowel disease.

Dictionary.com told me that, should I want to use the word in my next conversation, it was pronounced [bawr-buh-rig-muh s]. That's quite a mouthful.

Five years ago today: Cover Me

Bountiful Biscuits

Hubby Tony was gone again today, attending a planning meeting for next month's prison retreat. Just like I did last time he was away, I made and froze a batch of cookies that he will take with him to the retreat.

Earlier in the week Christine posted a recipe for snickerdoodle cookies that she said was good, so I decided to try it.  The recipe was easy to put together, but it makes a lot of cookies.  (If you're not baking for a large group it might be a good idea to halve it.)  To cut down on washing of cookie sheets between batches I used every sheet that was in the cabinet--even the round pizza pans. By the time I was done the eight dozen cookies were cooling on every rack I owned, and I was even forced to pull out my shabby broiling rack to stack already-cooled ones.

Cookies ready to bag up.

At the end of the project, once again I bagged up the cookies in labeled quart sized Ziploc bags, a dozen to each bag. Now there are an additional eight dozen treats in my freezer ready to "go to prison" when it's time.

Five years ago today: Cats Like Sun, Too

One Thing Leads To Another....

For the past week or so my scalp has been feeling dry and itchy, and my hair wasn't as shiny as I knew it could be.  Based on past experience I know those are symptoms of shampoo and conditioner build-up, which is easy to fix. After my trip to the gym today I decided to give my scalp an apple cider vinegar (ACV) treatment, which would get strip the gunk off and get everything back to normal. Besides, my gym shirt was sweaty and already needed to go into the laundry, so if it also picked up a vinegar smell it wouldn't matter.

Most things I've read recommend cutting the vinegar with water, but I've had good luck using it straight out of the bottle. I poured some ACV into a measuring cup, carefully dumped it on my scalp, massaged it in well, then let it sit for five minutes before I got into the shower. As I washed my body I could feel the scum rinsing off my my hair and scalp. The treatment had the desired effect...my scalp felt cleaner, and after my hair dried it was fluffy and shiny.

However, my scalp wasn't the only thing that got de-gunked by the apple cider vinegar.  When I looked down at the shower floor, there was a section where some soap scum had also loosened and washed away.

Can you see the clean section?

When I shower I use body wash, which doesn't leave a residue, but Hubby Tony uses bar soap. I really should do a better job of keeping the stall clean, but since I don't see well without my glasses (and of course shower without them) it's easy for me to ignore the grey scum on the brown floor. But today I had free time to tackle the problem, so I gathered my tools and ingredients and got started.

The first step was to douse the shower floor with plain white vinegar. I let that set for ten minutes, then came back with a scrubbing sponge. The sponge only removed some of the scum, so I got the container of baking soda and sprinkled a thick layer over the floor. As the two ingredients fizzed together I spread the paste around and walked away for an additional 15 minutes. This time the scum came up, and I washed it down the drain.

Now the shower floor is nice and clean, which makes the shower walls and glass doors look shabby. My next task will be to get some more vinegar and tackle that project.  Later.

Five years ago today: Operation Dust