Gray Dogwood berries

A new volunteer at the library.  She introduced herself and then went to the back to sort out the 'BB' books.  They are thick cardboard books which can take a toddler's chewing on their corners while someone reads to them.  We keep them in bins and don't really bother to put them back in order.   The new volunteer was tasked w/ bringing some order - no matter how temporary - to them.   A few people walked in and walked to the back of the library.  I recognized them - they often use the library to hold their meetings.   I picked up the cash register receipts from the last week and attendance log and entered everything up to August 31st into the spreadsheet.  Printed out the resulting graphs to show Librarian Trevor trends in attendance, various other stats, and how much the Village, the Library Board, and the Friends of the Library should be paid for the past month.  A lady came in on crutches.  She said she didn't need my help in finding books but could I help carrying them.  I told her to yell, "Hey Sue"  whenever she was ready for me.  A knock at the glass front doors.  A three year old (?) was pounding on the glass to be let in.  His older sister, brother, and somewhat embarrassed mother followed.  I asked her if I could be of any assistance.  "No." was her answer followed immediately by a "Yes" from her older son.  He wanted books on baseball.   Since he didn't look over the age of twelve I took him over to the 700 Dewey-decimal series of books in the junior non-fiction section.  I'd put away enough books on sports to know this would be the general area for him to look.  I heard a "Hey Sue" from the Inspirational book section and went over to carry four books picked out by the lady on crutches.  I checked them out and put them in a bag so it would be easier for her to carry them.  The lady explained she'd broken her leg six weeks ago and this was the first time she was allowed out on crutches. She wanted to rest for awhile.  Told her just to yell when she was ready to leave and I would carry the books to her car.  She sat on a comfy couch we have near the front desk and picked up the local newspaper we keep there for patrons.  Librarian Trevor walked through the library and I gave him the printed stats, receipt slips for the month of August, and asked if he wanted me to put a sign up that the library would be closed on Labor Day.   The new volunteer hadn't realized  on Thursdays the library stays open until 7 p.m.  Told her no worries, she could take off early.  In close succession came in two people who wanted to use the computers.   Checked one out to each of them.   An older lady I know came to the front desk.   She absolutely adores books by Dorothy Grafton.  She returned the book she just read and had a list of four more books for me to order from other libraries for her.  She could do it herself on-line but she would rather have us do it for her.   I wrote down the info.  The mother and her kids were ready to check out books so I did that.  The three-year old ran back to the glass front door and stood in front of it causing the door counter to ring over and over until she was able to corral him again.  I had a sudden flashback to my own mom working in the kitchen while a younger brother sat on the floor banging happily on pots.  I started working on inputting this month's stats when the phone rang.  It was a patron from another library in the consortium. She was sure she'd returned a book but it still showed as being checked out.  Could I check the stacks for it while she waited on the phone?  I assured her I would check but I couldn't at the moment.  Added her request to my list of things to do.  The crutch lady was ready to leave so I picked up her books, opened the door for her, and placed them in her car.  Told her the library was honored that, on her initial outing sans cast, she had chosen to come here.  That elicited her first smile.  I walked back in and one of the guys at the computer asked me to double-check some info he had on the Edmund Fitzgerald.  He was making a quiz for a group he would be speaking to.  I proofed the questions he had and their answers.  I ordered the Dorothy Grafton books.  I checked our stacks extensively for the phone caller's wayward book (didn't find it), and made up a sign about the upcoming library closure for the front door.  The rest of my volunteer shift went on like that.  A side benefit of working at the library is it makes you feel smart (whether or not you are).

Big Bluestem

 

I don't have any visitors right now.  Whip can sniff out all of the treats I throw out for her.  With the rain last night, fire danger has subsided.  No ticks.   My HMO prefers I leave the grass long.  No reason to mow the lawn but I did anyway.   I just don't seem to have enough oomph to start on the autumn chores.  At least this is one thing I can get done sitting down.

Blitzen trying to catch a frog on the other side of the window

Today my state's Elections Commission assured municipal clerks that the Executive Order, dictating USPS restrict which absentee ballots are sent out, is to be ignored for the upcoming November election.  Finally!   By state law, some absentee ballots are due to be sent out this week.   This Executive order was signed in March and the question of it's legality is still percolating through the judicial system.   

The Feds are pushing for the order to be in place for the Novemmber election.  A central Federal portal for each state to upload voter lists doesn't exist.  The USPS software to check outgoing ballot information against the (non-existant)  state voter lists is written but hasn't been tested.  The Executive Order calls for unique bar-codes on the outside envelopes of out-going ballots.  Those envelopes haven't been created.  Training for USPS personnel and municipality clerks on how the system will work and what to do if there are issues hasn't been written.  Trying to get all of that done within the next two months is idiotic.  In fact, there ought to be a moritorium on any election rule changes for six months before a presidential or mid-term election.

I've had the same P.O. Box for the last 20 years yet still find some of my mail placed in mailboxes all along the courier's route.  I sent a Christmas Card to my cousin only to have it arrive two months later. [fill in your own postal experience here].  Do we want USPS deciding who gets an absentee ballot and who doesn't?    Anyone still pushing for this Executive Order to be in place by the November elections is living in a fairyland or wants to create chaos around the election process.  

Elderberry

 

Neighbor Anita wanted to make elderberry jelly this year.  She hoped the elderberry would take it's time ripening since she also had a family get-together to prep for.  For once Mother Nature smiled and the elderberry heads didn't begin to droop until Anita had the time to work w/ them.  I checked the bushes out on the edges of the woods and they had already been picked clean.  (Guess birds don't care if the berries are ready or not.)  The three bushes nearest the house though still had lots of berries.  I cut the heads that were a deep purple and delivered a 2/3 full bucket of them to Anita.  Don't worry about the birds, I left some heads that still needed time to mature on the bushes for them.

The dog was asleep w/ her head on my lap and I didn't feel like getting up to get the TV remote anyway.   That's the only reason I ended up watching 'Velvet' tonight.    It's a Spanish soap set in the '50's about a fashion house.  I liked listening to the Spanish (it has English subtitles) and thought it might not be a bad way of improving the smattering of Spanish I know.  Only issue is this is the first episode I've watched so I don't know all the characters back stories.  There are a number of couples, w/ love triangles all over the place, and explosive revelations like the scion's real mother appears but she's dying from some heart disease.  I'm not a fan of angst but have to admit the clothes they wear are wonderful!

Pineapple Weed

 Excerpts from the Sheriff's Report:

1:06 a.m. - Walk-in to Law Enforcement Center reporting a male on the walking path attempting to hang himself.  He has been drinking.  Officer out on foot on the trail located bong, phone, and rope on a tree.  Request boat for mail [sic] in the river 60-70 yards from shore.  Male in custody - taken to hospital.

1:28 a.m. - Officer spoke with a male about riding his lawnmower around town.

4:24 a.m. - Caller from hospital ER reporting a female patient is becoming agitated and wants to leave but per hospital policy her blood alcohol content has to be below a certain level.

3:29 p.m. - Reporting party states a large round bale fell into their yard and would like advice.  Deputy reports this happened three days ago.  Nobody has contacted Caller.  Caller wanted to know what to do.  As there is no information as to who lost the bale, there is nothing law enforcement can do.  Caller told he would have to clean up the hay.

3:37 p.m. - Caller reporting a male in a white vehicle who appears to be very intoxicated and is most likely heading to work.

5:46 p.m. - Male caller reporting a female was in his house and stole his money, food card, phone chargers, and a possible phone and tablet.  He believes she is at Embrace.  Deputy attempted contact - no contact.  Also multiple code violations as there is a large amount of trash and a tent set up in the backyard.  Male caller wanted a vehicle removed from the private property.  He was told not to move vehicle since he doesn't have permission to do so.  Next Day 4:43 a.m. - Female caller wants to report her car stolen.  She doesn't know her address.  Property owner had called earlier wanting this vehicle removed and states caller took items from the property without permission.  Contact to be made to find out where vehicle is.  Female caller doesn't want to report it stolen, just help getting car back.  Contact attempted at residence.  No answer at door.  Vehicle is still there and is not stolen.  Female caller was told vehicle should be registered and she needs permission from property owner to go on property and get it.  Female caller doesn't have a valid license and has a protection order against the property owner.

6:59 p.m. - Call from Kwik Trip.  A parochial school bus stopped after a sporting event and forgot one of their students.  An employee was able to get in contact with the student's mother.  She called the athletic director.  Within ten minutes the kid was picked up and back on the bus.

11:20 p.m. - Homeowner reports she was doing dishes when her front door opened and a female came in and vomited all over her floor.  Female is unaware of where she is.  Homeowner does not know who female is.  Female stated that her friend is in the basement.  Nobody found in the basement.  Female has a can of Twisted Tea and a THC vape on her - taken into custody and booked for criminal trespassing and cited for underage alcohol and possession of THC.

12:19 p.m. - Staff at Bank requested officer to speak with a customer about getting scammed out of $30k.  Female was on her computer when a pop-up came on her screen from Microsoft stating she'd been hacked by several sites out of China.  She was instructed to call a number and they told her they were from Bank Headquarters and needed her to withdraw the cash and a courier would pick it up.  The female was on the phone with the scammer as she went to Bank and withdrew the cash.  Female told the bank the money was to purchase a vehicle.  The scammer then requested a picture of the cash and a courier named Mike would be picking up the shoebox with the cash.  They then tried to get her to purchase gift cards.  Staff at the Bank intercepted this transaction and had her hang up on the scammer.  While the officers were speaking with her at the bank, the scammers called twice and hung up once officer stated he was the police.  Bank staff helped her close her financial accounts.

Partial Lunar Eclipse

Got in to see a doc at the clinic today as a follow-up on my recent hospital stay.   I told her about some issues I was having and she said those were probably side-effects from the antibiotics I was taking.  (I knew there was a reason I should have read those information sheets the druggist gave me.)   No need to get stitches from the operation removed.  Incision was so small, it was just glued shut.   She did want another blood sample.  Went to the lab and the nurse there asked which arm I preferred she draw from.  I held them both out in front of me and told her to take her pick.  I'd had so many needle marks from the past few days my arms looked like those of a a drug user.  She picked the right.   "It's less damaged than the other." was her reasoning.  Later I got a call from the clinic that my hemoglobin count had gone up a little more since my discharge (good thing) and I should set up another blood draw in two weeks (hopefully my arms will have recovered by then.)  

Tonight I sat out on the deck to watch the lunar eclipse. I switched out Whip's usual harness for the one that glows and set the color to red so it wouldn't hurt my night vision. Unlike solar eclipses, lunar eclipses are long lived things so I had time to do other things.   Fun finding constellations as stars started popping out, listening to a great horned owl announce it's presence in the forest, and even hearing shuffling noises that Whip wasn't concerned about so I wasn't either.  Too cool for mosquitos or gnats but the crickets and grasshoppers sang for awhile until it got too cold for them too.   I threw on a sweatshirt, wiped dew off the camera lens, and Whip and I sat side by side on a rocker watching as the Earth's shadow slowly covered the full Moon's face.

Budding Florists

Nieces Shelby, Rebecca, and Carolyn had a Girls Weekend.  One of the activities was a flower arranging class at the florist where Carolyn works.  Everyone got the same 'recipe' of flowers and made an arrangement they could take home.  Think it's something I could have my guests do too.  We could go out into the meadow, pick flowers, and come back to see how we would arrange them.  Hopefully the guys will think it's a hoot.

Took it as easy as I could today.  Did have to pick up some antibiotics at the pharmacy the hospital doc had prescribed.  Before I left the house I got a message from the library that an audio book was ready for me.  Stopped there first.  I'm only a block away from the post office so picked up my mail.  I'd left my car out for three days at by the ER.  Noticed spots all over the hood so drove another block to the car wash and got it all nice and shiny.  Drove to the County Seat and picked up the drugs.  In truth, I was a bit nervous about eating.  Mom had diverticulitis.  She'd been careful about eating berries, nuts, popcorn, stuff like that.  However, I'd gone over my hospital discharge papers and saw nothing about restrictions in diet.  Still ...  Decided to go grocery shopping and pick up the same foods they had fed me in the hospital.  Came home and put everything away.  Just doing those errands this morning tired me out.  The dog and I took a quick nap.  As Cousin Rick reminded me "growing old isn't for the feint of heart.' 

Pictures from Rebecca Webb and Carolyn Lloyd.

Knap Weed

Got back home again this afternoon.  Sunday morning just after midnight I had blood coming out of an orifice it shouldn't.  Grabbed my purse and phone and drove to the hospital emergency ward.  They verified it wasn't anything minor and ordered an ambulance to take me to the Mother Ship hospital two hours away.  The docs there didn't seem overly concerned.  They explained they see blood every day and they did know exactly what needed to be done.  Took an MRI, saw where the problem was, and operated to put some coils (didn't know they could do that) into a couple of arteries that had broken into the intestines. (Probably not the technical way of explaining the situation but that's how I understood it.)  I had hoped to get out the next day but my hemoglobin count started falling and that did concern the doc.  He made me stay there all of Monday.   I was very fortunate that Neighbor Doug had recently taken care of my pets and said he would look in on them. By the way, at least at this hospital, the food was top-notch.   This morning my hemoglobin count stabilized and the doc was satisfied enough to let me go.   The hospital arranged for a service that drove me back to my car. Hospital gowns being what they are, I did lose any decency/dignity I had but I'm back home and feeling well.

Mathematical Instruments

 PBS recently aired a show about the Apollo 11 mission.  It reminded me of all the thrill, wonder and angst I had back then watching astronauts walk on the moon's surface.  The show included glimpses of engineers carrying slide rules.  NASA had computers for repetitive tasks but in the 60's the slide rules were still in use for a quick-backup sanity check or calculation.  There are old pictures of people using slide rules for many activities - rocketry, hydroelectric power, cars, WWII bombardiers, chemical research, Trinity nuclear test, etc.    A slide rule was still a necessary tool while I studied physics in college in the early 70's.  Hand-held calculators had just become available but were wildly expensive.  Slide rules, n the hands of someone who knew how to use it, could do arithmetic calculations practically as quick.  Unfortunately they were in high demand among students in the sciences and  easily stolen. We all had backups or carried them in holsters from our jean belts.   In the late 70's when I was training for my private pilot's license, I used a special navigational slide rule.  By that time, personal calculators were finally coming down in price so I also bought a Texas Instrument TI-30 and a specialized calculator with flying functions built in.  Eventually all of my slide rules and early calculators were packed away (couldn't bring myself to toss them).    Brother Brent gave me an Addometer his father-in-law had from the '40's.  It used dials to add/subtract/ etc. and was marketed for small businesses.  It seemed wrong that these instruments were stuck away in boxes when they had such a story behind them.   I gathered them all  together and asked the brothers if they could make a display for them that I could mount on the wall yet be able to take them out and still use them.  Brother Phil worked to get it done just before he left.  Geeky, I suppose, but way interesting and so unique I'd say no one else in the area has one like it.  

Wild Plums

 

When I took the car in for an oil change last month, I reminded Mechanic Eric that he'd said I should think about new tires before winter.  He said he was pretty busy but since it wasn't an urgent job he scheduled me for a couple of weeks out.  He also said the ball joint on one side of the car was loose and should be replaced.  He could do that at the same time.  I asked Volunteer Tom if I could work his shift on the morning of August 19th and he agreed.  Checked in w/ Librarian Trevor if I needed a key to the building but he said he would be at the library by 9 a.m. anyway.  Plans made.

This morning I dropped off my car at 8 w/ Eric.  It would take a couple of hours and he'd call me when it was ready.   I walked up to the cafe and had breakfast.  Then walked further up Main Street to the library.  It was still an hour before opening but Trevor was there.  I finished up a small project Trevor was working on, pulled books that had been requested overnight, and updated stats.   Tom came in.  He'd forgotten today I'd be there so took the opportunity to take off to do some errands for a couple of hours.  The Wednesday morning Coffee and Conversation group came in and soon I could smell coffee brewing and hear gossip flowing at the back tables.  The courier came in to leave off three bins of books to be processed.  It's been a long time since I had to do courier duty but it's fairly self explanatory - those books ordered by our patrons I put on the hold shelf for them, those books being returned to us from other libraries went on the trolley to be shelved, and those books specifically for the book club's next month choice were set aside for them. After that was done I sent out notices to patrons that their books were ready to be picked up.  Was busy finishing up shelving when Tom got back.  About that time Eric called to say the car was ready.  Everything at the library was running smoothly so I took off.  Actually rather enjoyed the wait for my car.

Bifrost

Neighbor Blake had his bobcat out at the back field to load bales.  He switched out the fork for a shovel implement and went cross field to dig out more dirt to widen Bifrost, the dam he and Brother Phil made last year across the low area I need to cross w/ the lawnmower to get to the back 80.  Last year we'd buried three plastic pipes to conduct water underneath the dam.  This spring when the snow melted, I observed that, at least one of the pipes was working well but the water had found a low spot at the other end of the dam and was going over that instead of through the pipes.  While the dam was wide enough for Svaldilfari to cross, when I took Jormungandr the tires spanned the width of the dam and it was a little tricky to cross.  I worried frequent crossings w/ the UTV would eventually break down the sides.  Phil and I went back to Menards this time and got three more pipes.  He used a bandsaw to cut them into thirds and married the ends to the existing buried pipes to extend them out.  Then Blake brought in more gravel/soil to widen the dam and Phil dug a little ditch so the errant stream of water over the end of the dam would instead find it's way to the pipes.  He dug up a lot of fist sized stones and used those to add some strength to the sides of the dam.  Bifrost is now comfortably wide enough for Jormungandr.  Next spring I'll check and see if there is still water coming over the end of the dam and if the buried pipes are conducting water under and away from the dam.

Phil had been bemoaning that he hadn't seen much wildlife this visit.  (I reminded him he did have two ticks.)  On the constitutional last night I saw a fox.  Haven't seen one in a few years since coyotes tend to chase them off (or worse).  While I like the sound of a pack of coyotes howling on a winter's night, I had been missing the high pitched yelp of a vixen.  The countryside is always changing but the changes can be subtle.   For the past years, the wild area in front of Sleipnir's windows has been tall Maximillian Sunflowers.  This year only one plant grew and the rest of the area is Canadian goldenrod.  A stretch of land at the border of the lawn is usually where I see bunches of catnip.  This year it's calico asters.   In nature nothing is perfect and everything is perfect.

The Stockade - no plum trees and cultivated

Since I got the electric chainsaw it's easy for me to start it and I can cut up anything I want but I left the plum tree in the stockade for Brother Brent.  The first reason what I knew he was just itching to cut something up while he was here.  Second, he was interested to see if plum wood would make an interesting pen (he turns pens).  Third, the plum tree was surrounded by a whole thicket of little plum trees.  I'd planted the plum and a pollinator tree when the stockade was first built.   It only produced little pears like I could find in the wild plum copse.  Fairly inedible since there is more pit than pulp.  What it was good at was producing little pear trees which were gradually taking over the stockade.  Brent went wild w/ the chainsaw and clippers.  I would have been happy if he'd thrown the cut saplings over the fence but he and Brother Phil piled them into Jormungandr and took them out to the tall grass beyond the meadow and dumped them there.  Not only was it hard, hot work, but I may have neglected to warn Brent that plum trees have thorns.   Anyway, I'm happy to have that corner of the stockade cleared out, the denizens of the area where the cut trees were dumped are happy to have a new place to hide from coyotes, and, hopefully, Brent's happy w/ seeing the 'fruit' of his labors.  I'll plant another tree there after I'm certain that there isn't a plum tree resurgence.  Maybe something like a service berry.

After Brent finished cleaning out that corner of the stockade, Phil cultivated the garden for me.  In his younger years he went over this same stretch of ground w/ a much bigger tractor.  Not sure which tractor he preferred but I'm glad to see the garden turned over.

Hazelnuts

 Librarian Trevor hadn't been able to find anyone to do this Saturday's shift and he had an outing w/ old friends he wanted to attend.  Brother Phil and I went out for breakfast at the cafe and then I went over to work the library's four hour Saturday shift.  New volunteer Paul was ready to get started when I opened up the library doors.  He had already trained w/ Trevor the day before so knew how to check out/check in books.  When I'd started a lot of years ago, I'd sat in w/ a volunteer for a couple of hours and then started working on my own so there isn't a lot to learn.  We have a bit more automation now and a few more rules but the system is built to be pretty self explanatory.  Our only issue for the morning was soon after we turned on the cash machine it suddenly went dead.  Nothing we tried could revive it.  I texted Trevor what had happened and wrote "Everything will be free at the library today."  Figured if that was a problem he'd call me back.  Actually only had a patron owe 30 cents for some copies.  If Trevor wants it, I'll pay the library next week.  

When I got home Phil was ready to tackle the two-person job of placing the the velvet-like backing on the plywood for the slide-rule display.  I was happy I didn't go w/ real velvet but w/ a streatchier and more forgiving cloth material.  We did a dry run-through.  Then Phil sprayed the base w/ a glue.  He had placed scrap wood pieces underneath to keep it up off the plastic covering the table.  He pulled off the plastic and placed the plywood back on the scrap wood.  He took one end of the cloth and I the other.  I placed my end down first making sure the salvage didn't show and there was sufficient material on the sides.  We continued laying down the material until Phil's end was in place.  Pressed down to make sure the material had a solid contact w/ the glued board. Repositioned some of the cloth on the sides of the board where it had doubled up on itself.    We both stepped back.   It looked perfect.   No rips.   No wrinkles.   No yelling at each other.  A minor miracle.

Cloud Iridescence

 

Attended the County Board of Canvass this morning.  It's when the county officials go over what the surrounding towns and villages (and one city) submitted as documentation from the August 11th election to make sure everything is correct and complete before they certify the vote tally for the county.  I'd attended once before to see what checks/balances they performed.   This time I had an uneasy feeling about their turn over in staff and some changes in procedures.   I wasn't worried about the voting itself  - just wanted to be sure our town was submitting paperwork in the form they required and reassure myself that all was going smoothly in their office.   I grabbed a coffee and bopped over to the County Seat for the 8 a.m. meeting.   Only one aide was there and she was manning the front desk.  Two other people were certifying the election results w/ the county clerk.  Our town is alphabetically first so we were the first scrutinized.  They checked that all of the paperwork was signed (Yep);  that the EDR's (Election Day Registrations) paperwork submitted, total entered, and supplemental poll book page signed (Yep);  that the absentee log was included, the opened envelopes they came in were included, the number of absentees entered in the paperwork matched the log (Yep); and the vote count for each candidate was the same as called in to them after the election (Yep).   I stuck through the meeting listening to the comments on other town's paperwork but prepared to leave when they transitioned to the villages.  They asked if I had any feedback.  I again questioned how they wanted tally sheets handled.  If you use a tabulator the tally sheet only lists the number of votes each candidate received from the tabulator's final count.  The tally sheet total, however, is made out in duplicate by two different poll workers and has a signed certification on the back.  The canvass didn't verify their numbers against the tally sheets.  They checked their numbers against the sheet the town clerk uses to call the county clerk's office on election night.  It's a paper that isn't on the checklist to put in a secured bag, isn't signed, and I didn't realize wasn't just thrown away after the count was called in.   Seems a mismatch to me.  The County Clerk said to keep doing tally sheets the way we have been.  One of the canvassers made a big deal that the name in the poll book of the last voter for the election be circled in red.  I'm not sure what the purpose is.   Poll workers put down the page and the number of the last voter on multiple other pieces of paperwork.  I knew enough to circle it because I had sat in on an earlier canvass where the same canvasser had brought up the same issue each time a town neglected to do it.  I asked where it was written for the poll workers to circle that voter's name?   If it isn't on a checklist somewhere, poll workers are likely to forget to do it.  The canvassers had made a comment that they ought to include it on an existing checklist.  Hopefully w/ my added encouragement it will get done before the next election.  I'll write up some of the things other towns do (both bad and good) and send it out to Chief Inspector Andy and Town Clerk Chris.  See if there are any improvements we should make.