where the sun don't shine

We have survived winter, as Minnesotans are wont to do and now we are enduring the coldest, windiest, shittiest spring of the past hundred years. I looked at the forecast and there is no sun predicted for two weeks. This unfortunate turn of events is impinging on my ability to enjoy spring. I wore sandals one time and nearly froze my toes. Yesterday I wore a parka to the dog park. It's inhumane.

I have had some issues again with sleeping. I was so sleepy when I got home from work yesterday that I took a two hour nap. I was sleeping so hard (again) that when Regis woke me, I barely knew where I was. Of course, I wasn't ready to go to bed at my normal bedtime and stayed up watching Bridgerton. Nothing against it if it's your thing but I thought it was like a romance novel for television. I watched two and a half episodes and that's enough.

I'm calling my doctor today and requesting a change in dosage of the medication that I think is causing the sleep issues.

I am trying to learn to make a Julia Child French Omelet. The biggest trick is learning how to shake the pan in order to get it to flip over on itself. I haven't mastered that part yet.

I'm also working on some ukulele chords and songs. My friend, Ed, knows 100 songs. I told him I know five chords and I  don't even know those reliably.

I am making a list of projects I want to work on and possibly finish this spring.

1. Finish Sandi's Mary Oliver needlework project.
2. Finish Zoey's needlework project.
3. Make Matthew's preacher gnome.
4. Fix three things with resin glue (garden thing, River Rock mug, and Stephanie's mug)
5. Clean shutters
6. Paint patio table
7. Paint patio swing
8. Paint grill
9. Paint bird seed aluminum can
10. Paint little library
11. Make Zelda's garden stones
    

That's about enough.

Carry on, friends and family.

Happy Friday.

Saturday already

 I took a trip to visit mom on Tuesday. Of course, it's so late into the spring that a guy shouldn't have to worry about road conditions and I didn't. I did, however, worry about my drowsiness on the road. I stopped once to eat a couple tacos then I had to stop in the next town to take a short nap. It was so gloomy, the sky was gray, the landscape was gray, and it was misty raining...did not make for an energizing mood.

We had a nice visit. A couple of mom's friends came for dinner on Wednesday evening. We talked about dogs, cats, insects, gardening, health, books, movies...it was very entertaining and energizing. Mom and her friends make me look forward to getting older.

I came back Thursday afternoon. I picked up Tiffany and Elliot for a spaghetti fundraiser in Mankato at 5. Good time and so nice to be able to gather in public again. The next day I found out that two of my brothers have COVID. Thankfully they are vaccinated and are not so far suffering any terrible effects.

I am looking forward to a relaxing day even though I have things to do. I made quite a mess when I came back from my trip...clothes all over and no unpacking yet. I'm going to practice my ukulele, do some laundry, make a corned beef, listen to a podcast on dopamine, and take a nap. Haha! Always a nap.

I'm really careful about the news I watch (rarely watch it) or read. The last years since Trump was elected were hard to bear witness to. I watched so much news that I did myself harm and I don't want to go back to that. I started reading a HCR column today about MTG and had to stop. It triggers horrible feelings of helplessness and doom. Here's a picture of the sky peeking through the spring clouds in case you need to cleanse your mind.

 That's it. Happy Saturday.

Tuesday morning, the party what started out as jumping around

 In case you don't remember, I once dreamed that I wrote a book called The Party What Started Out as Jumpin' Around. 

This month, I'm trying to win a t-shirt from the band The Jimmys by sharing the most of their posts. I know it doesn't seem like the two are connected, but they are.

So, there you go. See The Jimmys if you get a chance.

I'm getting ready to take a road trip to see Mom. I had a lot of things I wanted to do before I leave but I have decided to forego most of them. I'll be back on Thursday.

Regis downloaded Martha Wainwright's new book for me to listen to while I'm on the road so I'm looking forward to that. Think I'll make a ham sandwich for the road.

Still cold and blustery here. I'm not even tempted to start anything in the yard. It's a pitiful place with no bird feeders or the baths due to the avian virus. One expert said we may only have to do it for a month or so.

Better get on the road.

Very cold spring Friday morning

If I had hopes that today would be warmer, they have been dashed by a quick glance at the Weather Channel app. High of 37 degrees with continued wind but not as strong as yesterday. I think any loose detritus from Nicollet County has since blown on to Mower County. Only the really heavy stuff remains.

 I think I'll dress warmly and go for a walk down by my neighborhood pond called Hallett's Pond, allegedly the home of a pair of loons and occasional stopping off point for eagles.

I have been a complete worthless slug this week. I blame it on the weather but also on a medication change but whatever, it's left me dozing in the chair for hours and once for a whole day. I felt like I'd been pithed. I have accomplished the bare minimum but that's it. My planned Easter cookies might have to become the cookies for whatever the next holiday is. I'm good at adjusting my plans.

I'm going to take my ukulele to work today so I can practice when there isn't anyone in the gallery. I'm getting callouses on my fingers, I can switch from one chord to another fairly easily, and I know one strumming pattern. We're going to be playing Top of the World by the Carpenters, but the Shonen Knife version.

https://youtu.be/-Ba360Dz1sQ

We're playing with a band and a choir so the risk will be minimal. And I know how to ghost play.

I'm playing this for the third time and Woodrow just got up from my lap, shook himself, and marched off. He's some cat.

Happy Friday, friends.

Reviving the blog buns of stone

 You'll have to go back and read the first posts from October of 2006 if you want to know how my blog got the ridiculous name Buns of Stone. I've decided to revive the blog and it's involved a fight with the corporate vultures at Google. I'm not sure anybody wants the whole story so let's just say for now that I have given up my custom domain name because who wants to pay a non-refundable broker's fee to find out IF Google wants to sell my custom domain name (which they stole) back to me for some unnamed amount of money. F that.

 

I'm going to be working on my blogger chops for a while so there may be randomly inserted photos, quotes, charts, and maps as I remember how to do things. Old dogs, new tricks.

When I started this blog, Facebook didn't exist so this was my only platform for over-sharing. Haha! I don't use Instagram, Tik Tok, Reels, Twitter or any of the other social media so it will just be figuring out what goes on Facebook and what goes here. This always felt more organic, more rambley, more like a notebook kind of thing. I like that

I have joined a ukulele band. Our first performance will be at the Mid-Life Pageant and Sing Along Nation performance on September 4th. It's been a hoot so far. At our first lesson/rehearsal, it was like magic...almost 20 ukuleles played by beginners or amateurs, plunking along to Obla Di Obla Da. It was priceless and so joyful.

It's still winter in Minnesota although it has technically been spring for almost a month. Today the temperature is 30, it feels like 15 degrees, and there is a wind advisory for winds 25-35 mph with gusts up to 50 mph. What the bloody hell. Everyone is so tired of it.

 My neighbor's daffodils are blooming, though, which seems impossible in this wretched weather. I walked around my garden the other day and there are lots of tiny things struggling to grow. Little iris shoots growing up through the leaf letter, hollyhocks, vinca vines, and squill. My daffodils don't bloom this early because they don't have the benefit of a southern exposure. I planted 70 of them, though, so they should make a show when they finally arrive.

Moose is barking his head off at something going past...a dog, a person, or a bag blowing in the wind. For a small dog, he has a very loud bark.

Interminable insufferable winter- unpublished draft

 I haven't written on my blog much for a long time. Some observations about that.

Things got difficult for me in 2016. The political climate and how it impacted my relationships was staggering. I know people who say they don't pay attention to it, but I couldn't do that. It was like someone had pulled the rug from beneath my feet.

I managed to keep my head above water by being obsessive about the news. I would wake up at night to check Twitter and make sure that bombs hadn't been detonated, the rivers hadn't overflowed their banks, and the sky hadn't suddenly disappeared. In retrospect, this wasn't healthy but I did what I could at the time.

I spent a lot of time in my chair, watching the news. Constantly watching the news. It was hard on my physical health even though I did manage to continue working with a trainer at the gym. I even worked, by distance learning, to earn a license as a trainer for senior folks in their own homes. I finished that program in January of 2020, had a business plan, had my promotional materials, and my equipment. I started with one client in February but by March COVID ended that dream. The stuff is in the closet, the business cards are in the trash, and that's that.

My time at the gym ended, too. Like everyone else, the gym was closed and there was no way to continue working with Gunnar. I had known him for five years and he was a huge source of support. It was a terrible loss.

My job at the Arts Center was over for a while. We were closed until summer and then opened with a very limited staff in order to keep our exposure to a minimum. I went back to work in August, wearing a mask, behind a plastic shield, with a limited number of customers at one time. No more artist receptions, no clay center gatherings, no team meetings at the coop.

My yoga classes ended, my art classes ended, my coffee dates were over, my time with my grandchildren ended. Now when I read this and reflect on what the last two years were like, is it any wonder that the days were dark?

We bought a small fire pit for the patio and I spent some time outside, even on the coldest days, mostly with my neighbor friend. In the summer, the grand kids came over sometimes but it was hard to stay out of the house on the hot days. It seemed like  we were trying to get by but it was never the same. There were so many things I ached for, Easton reading books on my lap, going to the little airport, rocking Sully, hearing Elliot in the office playing video games, taking Ella out for lunch.