The Hobby

 I've been tending plants as one of my retirement hobbies.  (The other is watching my bank account drain away as I make home/car repairs. Such is life).

I joined the subreddit for houseplants (Reddit is a site with thousands of subjects you can join and chat about with others in similar situations or with similar interests).

I'm learning the best way to get rid of mealy bugs.  (I used to feed our bearded dragon mealy worms).

I am no longer squeamish about bugs like the one(s) shown above. Magnified several times via my phone camera. There are two and they may or may not be up to something nefarious.  We fed the bearded dragon Dubia roaches and that helped to allay my fear of creepy crawlies (or most of them, creepy crawlies and fears).  I would feed the Dubia roaches (which yes, look very much like cock roaches) and then wait patiently (because they are extremely shy) until they came out of their hiding places to feed. I trained myself to see the biology aspect of these creatures and appreciate whatever value they may provide.

The beardie passed away (and they are not my choice of pet so we are done with them) and now I focus on plants. 

I am still reading.  Just finished an autobiography by Priscilla Presley.  I have on my list to read:  Tim Curry, James Lovell and I will try again to read Virginia Giuffre's story. In non-fiction I am reading "Down Cemetery Road".  I watched the first season of the show (Apple TV +) with Emma Thompson.

A lot of shows I watch are starting up in the next couple of weeks.  Call the Midwife, Animal Control, Dark Winds, Shrinking, and Hijack.  'Hijack' was canceled after it's first season which aired in July 2023 (I don't recall what Network) but Apple picked it up. I've only seen the first episode of the second season and I might not continue. Kind of meh. The first season focused on an airplane hijacking and this one looks to be a subway train or tube. Most of it is in a foreign language and you have to read the English subtitles. This does not work well for me because I don't just 'watch' a show. I usually do other things like tend my plants, work a puzzle, play a computer game. The foreign language sub titles do not let me do that.  'Call the Midwife' is a classic but wearing thin in the storyline and 'Animal Control' is just fluff entertainment.  

I watched "Song Sung Blue" and I think I recall the original document that was made in 2008.  I do know that the wife in real life, Claire -  makes a small appearance in this recent version (I did not know this until afterwards so I may go back and rewatch to see if I can spot her).  I have always been a Neil Diamond fan. I mean my God!  I was watching this and was like "I forgot about this song and that song!" Now, I want to listen to Neil all day.

My sister 1956 was scheduled to have cataract surgery yesterday and I was going to take her. She lives an hour away and the hospital was another 40 minutes. She canceled. She said she didn't want us to be on those icy roads.  We didn't get much snow but it was pretty slick and when I went out later (much later) the roads were very slick so I can imagine what they were like at 6 a.m.  I was up and showered, hair fixed, dressed and had even started my car to warm up.  She messaged me on Facebook and by the time I called her she had drank coffee so there was no going back. She was not to eat or drink anything before the procedure.  I said okay, another day.

Both of my garage doors are broke.  So we have to clean off our cars when it snows.  Yuck.  I never had a garage until I moved to this house (2002).  Like I said above - repairs, repairs.  A garage is a luxury, a new roof is a necessity.  I still can't decide on the color.  Of course I am getting the newer metal one. I thought I would be the first in my neighborhood to get one but the family behind me did theirs in black.  AND they added solar panels.  Now, I'm like "Can I...?"   After researching I realized 'maybe not.'

My culinary side of life has slowed considerably. I found myself making things that nobody ate and either I ate them, froze them or tossed them.  I don't need to eat any more, and my freezer is full. I am not one to over indulge my pets with people food so it was tossed.  Such a waste and I realized I needed to stop.

I attempted to help at a soup kitchen for the Salvation Army. What a dork. I was not used to standing for long periods of time and I found myself in such pain by the time I left I decided to postpone it for now.  The people were not homeless as I thought they were. The cook said there used to be a guy who slept in the shelter (roofed area with picnic tables) but she had not seen him in a few weeks.  I was actually just helping the cook do her work.  I was helping prepare the food, put the food on trays and wiping down the tables afterwards.  I could tell that she was going to ask me to start sweeping and mopping the floors and I knew my back would not tolerate that so I had to relinquish my time. I will donate money and/or food as I can.  The people were wonderful there and I can't help but feel that I let them down.  Then I came to find out my niece's best friend from high school works in that area and she is at the Salvation Army facility sometimes.  I will reach out to her when I want to donate. 

There was another "little" reason I stopped.  The cook was warning me about one of the participants who came daily for the free meal. To be careful when I spoke to him because he had a temper. She said if you even look at him wrong it could send him into a rage.  I was like "Uh, I don't need this. It may be better if I help out from afar."