706.

How-do y'all.

Well, I'm happy to say it was a fun and funny day.

My date and I had a good ole time.

We attended a rollicking festival at a vineyard about 40 minutes from my home. It wasn't my first time so I knew it would be a blast, based on previous attendance.

The fete began at noon; we arrived at 20 after and found that available parking was already threatening to have us walking to the pavilion from the boondocks.

Judging from the number of vehicles, I expected us to have a hard time finding an open table. Oddly, there were several tables that appeared entirely empty. We chose two seats at one, dropped the cooler, the extra bag, and my jacket (to hold our seats) then galavanted off to greet other attendees and check out the vendors and food trucks.

We met one couple who I think we both enjoyed meeting more than anyone else we met.

They were Cynthia and Tom Wilson, vendors at the festival. Not only are they really cool people but  they have the awesome job of raising the much-loved alpacas that are part of their extended family.

Two of the alpacas, mommy Mocha and her baby Luna, were on-site. The others stayed home to keep the other farm family members minding their p's and q's.

Neither my date nor I had previously seen alpacas live and in person before today. We both fell in love with them. They are beautiful creatures, mostly gentle-natured but also high-spirited on occasion.

We asked a ton of questions and the Wilsons were kind enough to share the fascinating story of their alpacas with us.

If anyone is curious about the alpaca, Open Herd is Cynthia and Tom's website.

There were lots more vendors but only one other caught my eye long enough for me to stop.

A woman named Kristina Tomkie, who runs "my little design company", designs and creates greeting cards by hand.

Lovely little things they are.

As a creative spirit, I have an appreciation for the time and effort others put into their works of art. Not all of it is enticing enough to get me to open my wallet but greeting cards just happen to be my thing because I actually like sending actual cards via snail mail.

There's something delectable about receiving a card in the mail. Even if there's nothing handwritten in it other than a signature, I feel like someone was thinking about me for the amount of time it took him/her/them to buy and sign the card, address and stamp the envelope, mail the card, wait for me to acknowledge receipt.

Over time, I have amassed a collection of hundreds of greeting cards. Partly because I have a tendency to buy a card for a special occasion, bring it home, lose it, then return to the store to purchase another.

Sometime after mailing the subsequently purchased card, I find the first one et voila, an extra card for my collection.

Any who, while I can (and do) get greeting cards for cheap I don't mind paying a little extra from time to time for something original.

It satisfies my impulse to encourage other creative folk and I hope the recipient can see that I thought enough of him/her/them to send something different.

Without going further afield (because I'm nodding), if anyone wants to check out Kristina's cards they're here: My Little Design Company.

Okay y'all, I'm outta here.

Good night everyone.

Sweet dreams...

705.

Good morning folks!

I tried to get this missive out in the wee hours but I passed out before I could log in.

When I awoke this morning, my laptop was perched... on my lap.

Ha ha!

So now I'm once again racing the clock.

I've showered and shampooed and it's time to get dressed while the kettle boils.

I have an all-day date planned.

He's driving a few hours just to spend the day with me.

There's a Special Event taking place in a town not too far off. We're heading over to enjoy the festivities and I have lunch and drinks stashed in the cooler.

We've been e-mailing/talking/texting for a month but this will be our first face-to-face meeting.

He's a nice man, a bit... skittish (or "scary" as folks in these parts would say) but overall a good bloke it seems.

The weather is already beautiful. Sunshine and Carolina blue skies.

Nothing better!

Gotta run folks.

Enjoy your day!

704.

So I did my part to keep the good ole U.S. of A. in the blue and get our state as blue as possible.

From my lips to God's ears!

On other fronts, it's been a night of nostalgia chez Bliss.

I've been listening to a lot of 70s music (rock, pop, and disco mostly) on the YouTube. And I began to really miss Mr. Bliss in a way I haven't in a long time. It made me sad but not overwhelmingly so.

I know if he was still in the here and now and not at work, we might have been dancing then snuggling on the sofa.

Thankfully I turned on James Corden and I'm now getting a belly full of laughs.

Thanks James!

And although I had planned to say more, I must bid you kind folks good night.

The lavender essential oil that I mix with my night moisturizer is luring me away from the keyboard. I know she's planning to push me into a pile of pillows and blankets and I'm just too tired to fight her.

Bon nuit y'all.

Sweet dreams... 

702.

Good morning and Happy Wednesday folks.

It's almost 1 a.m. and I'm tired. Fighting sleep and exhaustion because I felt compelled to write this post before I turn in...

I'll get right to the point because I'm losing the battle.

The last dream I had before I awoke Tuesday morning featured my first husband, whom I haven't seen or heard from in over a decade.

Upon awakening, I jumped right into doing other things and I lost the tendrils of the dream. But all day, thoughts of hubby #1 lingered in the fringes.

Finally I decided to Google him.

He has a common name, requiring me to fully utilize my finely-honed research skills. It took about 15 minutes to find the onion; another 15 or so to peel it.

To be succinct, I learned he was murdered several years ago.

I won't repeat the particulars but I will say I wasn't surprised that it happened. How it happened was a shocker because I knew him to be a cautious man.

Maybe he got sloppy in his later years.

Or maybe it was... something else.

It was said to have been a random event.

Perhaps.

701.

Happy Wednesday everyone!

May all you love and cherish bring you joy and happiness for the duration!

In mundane news on my end:

That pesky sewing kit made its way into my awareness again.

Every other week or so I check Aldi's website, to see if any of my favorites (almond butter, organic fruit) are on sale.

Aldi also sells household items, a few toiletries, etc.

When I checked yesterday evening, there was a sewing kit in the specialty items being sold in that week's stash. (Their household merchandise rotates every week, beginning on Wednesday.)

Third time's the charm, right?

On a similar topic, last night's dream featured butter. I was helping a friend clean out her freezer so we could have room for more food (I was visiting for a few days). She didn't realize there was stuff hidden in the back of the freezer, under the freezer tray.

There were several small tubs of butter in the freezer. Some had to be tossed out because the tubs were open. At least one of the tubs had a few bugs crawling in it. (Yuck!)

Of course I checked my dream book soon after I awoke.

Butter:  A fortunate dream no matter what form it took. Even rancid butter signifies a secure future.

Bugs:  There is a warning in this dream against unfortunate influences around you, unless you succeeded in driving the bugs off or getting rid of them in some way, in which case it is a dream of contrary and signifies imminent money luck. See also Insects.

Well... The "secure future" remains to be seen, yes?

As for "imminent money luck", I'll keep y'all posted.

* * *

Today I ran a few errands after I dropped Baby Bliss at work.

At my favorite local thrift store, I found two sets of lovely pillow cases and a high thread count sheet for my bed. 

I also bought three books I hope to read in this lifetime: Jesus' Jewishness, The Universe in Miniature in Miniature, and The Way of the Pipe.

I really really really need to get back to reading from my own library so I can donate the books I don't want to keep. My bookcases are gasping for air.

With all my texting and reading online, I usually read printed books when I'm on the toilet or at the park. There was a time I carried paperbacks in my purse to pull out when caught in a long line at the store. These days I'm pulling out my phone to play my favorite game or check text messages.

This here technology sure does change a girl.

Any way, it's well past lunch time and I haven't had breakfast.

Time for some vittles!

Ciao folks!

700.

Happy Tuesday y'all!

I hope everyone's day has been all that's necessary for continued love and happiness.

It's been quite thrilling on my end.

My day started out quietly. I rose around 8:30 a.m. and saw that it was overcast out. 

Realizing that today is October 4, I remembered that I wanted to get frozen fruit from my local supermarket while it was still on sale.

An hour later, I walked out into what I thought was the cool breeze of a new fall morning.

There was a cool breeze blowing but a few feet from my door, I realized it was also humid.

A bit of a bummer but I was already out so I marched on. (I had decided to walk.)

At the corner I saw a few neighbors I hadn't seen in a while. I stopped for a pleasant chat. We said goodbye and I crossed the street.

I noticed that another (elderly) neighbor's door was open. I hadn't seen her in a while as well so I went over and knocked at the storm door. Her dog came barking but she didn't appear. I knocked again and waited. No sign of her. So I knocked more.

She didn't come to the door. I thought she might be in the bathroom so I continued on my way, making a mental note to check again when I next passed by.

On my way home, I must have switched to auto pilot because I don't recall whether or not her door was open or closed. Maybe because I was a wee bit sweaty and anxious to get home to strip off my damp clothes.

When I went out again, I noticed that her door was (still?) open. I knocked again and waited. Once again the dog came to the door and again no neighbor.

But I wasn't leaving until I got a response or the police came to check on her.

Thankfully she came to the door after I had been knocking steadily for about half a minute.

I explained to her that I'd come by earlier and was worried because I'd gotten no answer.

She looked at me blankly for a few moments then said she believed she'd been home all day and was probably just in the back when I knocked earlier.

As I told her I was glad she was okay, I had to wipe a few tears. Seriously. Because she's a senior, I didn't know if maybe she was laying inside injured or in some other form of distress due to a health condition.

I didn't tell her how concerned I felt when she said she was probably in the back (with the door open) or how it worried me that if she didn't hear me knocking it's likely she wouldn't have heard anyone who decided to walk in on her.

We actually live in an area with almost nonexistent stats for certain types of crime. Perhaps my penchant for Justice Channel programming and "Criminal Minds" episodes is the real issue here.

* * *

In other neighborhood news, a neighbor who I helped in the recent past tried to suck me into a vortex of doing more favors.

*sigh*

Some people...

It's not that I don't like helping people. Lawd knows I wouldn't be where I am today without assistance of some sort and I believe in paying it forward.

I'm also an empath and actually feel varying types of pain when I see or hear about another's pain. If I can help stop that hurting, I will. But not if it's to my own detriment.

My preference for receiving help happens to be asking for information that allows me to help myself instead of asking someone for what I consider a handout.

Yes, I do know we're all different and each of us may handle aspects of our lives differently.

I also know that some people are users who will never tire of asking.

Some of my family members are guilty of asking, preferring to beg (under the guise of borrowing) instead of being proactive with their own finances.

It's taken a while but I've developed a number of ways to deter such behavior. 

First I had to thicken my skin, so as to be able to not give a rat's ass about what might be said about me when I decline to offer my services.

Second, I say no. If that doesn't work, I ignore. If the requests keep coming, I delete and block the person from my life. (Phone contact/s, social media, etc.)

To reiterate, I help when I can. Which I actually prefer to do anonymously when possible. Helping someone else is for him or her, not for accolades. 

 But again, some will make it a habit to ask again and again, a nasty habit I'm no longer enabling.

For those folk, I can offer prayer while I tend to my business.

Amen.

699.

Sunday evening I noticed we were down to our last gallon of filtered water.

With the amount of water we use for cooking and drinking around here, I like to keep at least four gallons on hand. 

I thought my local refill spot closed at 8 p.m. so I left at 7:30. It was dusk. 

As I locked my door, I heard a flock of geese flying over. I looked up and there they were, flying in formation. 

Flying north.

Eeeeek!

Winter is coming!  

I'm not ready. 

I want the weather to reach a balmy 60 degrees for daytime highs and stay there. Preferably all year but I won't ask for too much.

* * *

On to other topics...

In the past several nights, I've dreamed about Mr. Bliss a few times. What I can recall of the dreams was pleasant. 

What I also remember lately about all my dreams is a feeling of similarity. There are always landscapes that we're/I'm either walking or driving through. They all look different but have a similar feel. 

Or we're/I'm in a home or apartment that feels similar to (although appearing different from) most of the other homes and/or apartments in my dreams.

In fact, there is an aura of similarity that permeates most of my dreams. 

Not in the elements of appearance, location, subject matter,  time frame, etc.

More of a feeling that the very molecules in the air are the same somehow, giving the dream an overall feeling of maybe being a continuation somehow of those that came before...

That's the best description I can give.

Speaking of dreams, last week I had a dream featuring Miz A. I don't recall that she's been in any previous dreams but I could be wrong.

Any way in this specific dream, Miz A, Baby Bliss, and I were outside in a place where there were a lot of items laying around. Perhaps a flea market.

I found a sewing kit and picked it up, managing to drop many sewing needles from the kit, onto a cloth-covered surface in the process.

As I replaced the needles in the case, I said I was buying it for Miz A. (Because in waking life, she and I had had a conversation about a month previous about her not having a sewing kit in her home.)

She laughed and said okay. 

The dream continued then segued into a different dream.

Shortly after I awoke, I called Miz A to tell her about the dream.

She gasped then laughed. Then she told me about the sewing kit she'd found the day before, while shopping at one of our favorite re-sale shops.

We discussed the possible significance of the synchronicity, laughed about it, discussed it more.

A few "conclusions" but as with the nature of coincidence, we might never know the "why" other than the Universe attempting to get out joint attention somehow.

Que sera, sera...

698.

Good morning and Happy Sunday y'all!

How has your weekend has been so far?

Mine has been restful but might get busy this afternoon.

It's possible but not definite that Miz A and I will attend a barbeque sponsored by a potential suitor.

Speaking of suitors, I made the decision to part ways with the guy I'd been seeing most recently.

The countdown clock began ticking with an invitation to visit his home...

I expected a pleasant and enjoyable visit. Sadly, I was let down.

The nicest thing I can say is that his bed appeared neatly made. (And I only know that because I had to go through his bedroom to get to his bathroom.)

But as Shania Twain details so well in one of my favorite songs, "That don't impress me much".

He told me upon arrival that his daughter recently (allegedly) moved in with her small children (and a friend). I'm not exaggerating when I say it looked like they brought a tornado with them that engulfed the whole place and has yet to wind down.

Not that my abode will pass the white glove test without prior notice. It's often messy but it's cozy and livable according to my standards.

What matters most is that I'm comfortable at my home and I certainly hope he's comfortable at his.

In addition to the preceding, I noticed a few other things that set my teeth on edge. I won't mention them but they raised several red flags. Bright red.

No one displays better habits than a man luxuriating in the squalor of his own domicile.

Our last date was for breakfast a few days ago, after which I informed him of my decision. He didn't like it but he was a gentleman about it.

That's it and that's all folks!

* * *

In other news, autumn has officially descended upon our tiny spot on the globe.

The proof:

Baby Bliss and I went to dinner around 10:30 Friday evening. When we exited the establishment 45 minutes later, the air was unmistakably crisp.

I, who dislike anything that reminds me of turtle necks and woolen leggings, immediately bristled at the foreshadowing.

Baby Bliss let out a whoop of joy, being the only person in the entire universe who revels at the thought of below zero temperatures and icicles hanging from the eaves.

*sigh*

Winter is coming...