Plugging away at #Inktober

 

Something's amiss

 I have a sassafras tree! He's almost naked, but I was completely surprised at finding one as we don't have any big ones on our property and I haven't the slightest idea where he came from. Then I discovered two more and I'm so excited! Yay for baby trees!

So first of all, I thought the picture below was garlic. In my defense, it was in a text sent to my cell phone so it was small. Upon discovering that it was A) a keychain and B) what it was (read the tag for yourself. I'm not even going to type that), my questions are C) who the heck harvests those and turns them into keychains and D) who buys them!?

Around here, we call this The PaPa broom. It hangs out on the deck, is used to sweep as many leaves as possible off the roof before the unfortunate soul who cleans the gutters gets up the ladder to finish the job, and then sends the drifts of leaves out into the yard, invariably onto the dogs who have not enough sense to move out of the way. Either of them. No joke. 

It's a PaPa broom because PaPa has had tons of these throughout my lifespan. He uses them until there are practically no bristles left, then I get the handles to prop plants up in the garden. When things die off, it looks like I'm growing a patch of brooms!

Dada said his shirt has seen better days. It reminded me of the swimsuit that Muggin tossed at the end of our Mexico trip last December, and the cheap orange purse I'd taken on the same trip that also ended up in the trash can. The orange outer layer of material was peeling off and shedding all over creation. Muggin said she'd had one that did the same thing. What have you ditched on a vacation?

Introducing Adi the Small Suitcase

 

Let me tell you a story about luggage. 

When Dada travels hither and yon to do these training programs about glass, he has to take a specific case of tools, samples, and so forth. Glass being glass, it's not light. Weight requirements vary from airline to airline. An experienced traveler is aware of these facts on some levels, but life can still throw some curveballs, things get forgotten, and reality steps in to make things more interesting.

For instance, a certain traveler began a trip to multiple countries on Airline A, which has a weight requirement of 25 kg per bag. Two bags may be carried. 

Airline B has a 30 kg total weight limit for economy class luggage. 

You begin to see the problem. (Unless you're like me, who had math trauma flashbacks as soon as anything named A is compared to anything named B and numbers are thrown in. Then my brain cowers under a table and sucks its thumb for awhile until things settle down.)

Back to the story. Dada's fracture kit bag alone is 20 kg.

He informed me via text that he's allowed to carry extra weed in the carry-ons, but not in the bag. I clarified that he probably meant more weight and he confirmed I was right. He then told me he'd bought a cheap carry-on bag (orange, above) that he stuffed to the max. His huge personal luggage was practically empty. The funniest part was that there was a high probability that he'd be asked to put his heavy carry-on bag below the plane with regular luggage anyway because of overhead bin space or lack thereof.  Things that make you go hmmm.

So enter Adi the Small Suitcase. Dada's excellent driver in Indonesia bears the name of Mr. Adi. I figured in honor of him keeping Dada safe through what I heard was crazy traffic all week, amidst families of four (including infants in arms) riding  the same scooter together and so forth, we'd christen the cute little suitcase after him. 

Now I'm realizing those are unfortunate initials...

Just some pretty pictures

 This font is called Caveat. I thought I'd try something that looked pretty now that things are starting to look worn out in the great outdoors. These were all taken at the beginning of November. Our neighbor's red tree/bush/shrubbery is so vibrant and lovely, even moreso in real life. I wish sunsets and bright colors came out in photos as true as they do to our eyes, but I guess our manmade stuff just can't quite keep up, hehe!

I  love sunlight!  

Random post

I had a small friend join me the last time I hung laundry outside. I love wooly bears!

Dada and his estate sales. I never know what he's going to come home with, but he was delighted to snag this humungous ladder. I'm eternally grateful that my father didn't have this one lest I'd needed to use it every time my BFF locked herself out of her house, but that is an entirely different blog post, so you'll have to ask about that one sometime.

You've seen pictures of Liam's long hairs. In his defense, these are not all his, but I am thankful that I spotted this hairball in the bathroom I don't use and rescued it from the drain. I shudder to think what would have happened if it had continued on its journey. It was large enough to name, so:

And another estate sale find- ramps to the trailer we rarely use. Maybe now we'll use it more...? *shrug* Not my monkeys, not my circus.

And while I'm pondering, why is it keys and monkeys and not drop the y and add i-e-s? Hmmm. English is weird.

 

Nature wins again!

 Hi! i felt like something different today, so i'm using the permanent marker font. maybe it balances out the not-so-wispy mist that has befallen us, causing the second fog delay-turned-cancellation day of the year.

i love the drips on the ends of the fronds. remember, you can enlarge photos by clicking on them.

Spider web in the gooseberries

if you look really closely you might be able to see the spider webs dangling from the branches. 

we lived twenty minutes north of here for about 8 years, and during sketchy weather we'd always hear about this southern district on a delay or cancelling. i used to laugh, "those kids are never in school!" 

now i laugh that the northern kids are always in school. i'm amazed we made it an entire academic quarter without even a delay this year, but we're making up for it now. having driven in it yesterday, i can assure you that there is an almost physical line where the fog stops. it's amazing. once you hit it, you go, "oh, so that's why we're always delaying and they're always on time!" i dunno if it's the actual school district boundary or what, but it's as if a wizard has planted his staff to declare to the fog, "you shall not pass!" 

i love it, though. even though this fog had a decidedly icy-seeping-into-your-bones feel, it is beautiful to me. i think it was a good call on behalf of the kiddos and poor bus drivers. i have already heard sirens this morning and i'm glad we get to stay in out of the damp. be safe out there and have a positive energy thursday!