The Raven's Roost

I am tired today. I woke up around 2 and couldn't get back to sleep, then Fox's phone went off with a work emergency. I got up early to feed Crowley and then just went back to bed. I'll do my long run tomorrow, today I don't have the spoons.

The good news is that signs of autumn are all around. Lots of Orb Weaver spiders building webs, including at ground level, but a lot of them are high up in the trees and between the power lines. I haven't noticed the Poplars starting to turn colors but that's usually the last big sign. I'm tired of being indoors most of the time, I'm ready for some cooler weather.

I'm also a little worn out with all the medical appointments and chaos lately. I haven't had as much time to write or draw as I'd like, or to play video games. That said, I was gifted copies of Herdling and Shantae and the Seven Sirens, and I bought Ultros at 75% off. Herdling is a cute, sort of low-stakes game. There are some "dangerous" areas, but you can always reload from the last save and keep trying. It runs well on the Steam Deck, too.

After I do my weight lifting workout and shower, I want to sit down and write up a few character cards for St. Felix, maybe outline the general arc of this new person I thought about. Or take a nap.

1. How often do you change the sheets on your bed?
Once a week to every ten days, but generally I try to stick to a particular day.

2. If you had daily maid service, how often would you want the sheets changed?
Probably still once a week. More often seems excessive and less often seems gross.

3. How many pillows are on your bed?
Five.

4. How many pillows do you actually sleep on?
Three. I have one for my head, and I make a sort of pillow fort with body pillows to either side. I like the secure feeling, and it's kept me from spending a bunch of money buying a human dog bed.

5. How many blankets and/or comforters and/or other bed coverings do you have on your bed?
In summer, two - the top sheet and a bamboo blanket. In winter, three or more depending on how cold it gets.

Last night it started raining rather suddenly and we had a downpour that dumped over two inches on us. This morning there is no standing water anywhere on our end of the road, which just shows how badly the drought conditions have been treating us. The temperatures are pleasant, though I know we'll be back into the 90s soon enough, it's not fall in Florida yet. But it means that doing a short ruck outside after I get home from running some errands isn't flirting with death by heat stroke.

So, I had been on a bulk cycle for about ten months, and I'm now entering onto a cut which will also last several months because I don't like rushing this stuff. If the Garmin scale is to be believed, I successfully put on three pounds of muscle, which is excellent for an almost-50 female. (toot toot - tooting my own horn) In order to shed fat while losing as little of that lovely muscle as possible I will have to approach cutting slowly. Or this is what I keep telling myself while I put my Wawa order into the app, anyway ...

I also hate the feeling of realizing I've cut my food too hard and deep and minor lifts feel impossible and I can't stay awake.

Anyway, I'm about to head out to replenish our groceries, pick up some items from Home Despot, and satisfy that bagel sandwich craving I've got. I can also come back to Fox with a road report - since it rained so much, the sand should be really well compacted, making it a great time for him to get the tractor out and work the road a little.

I know I haven't updated this in a long time, but things got pretty crazy here and I have no idea where to even begin.

Beginning in June I hit a deer and the truck was totaled. To say that it sucked is an understatement and I'm still feeling a bit antsy about driving. But Fox and I had started talking back in 2020 about buying a new vehicle, and even at one point were on the list for a Ford Lightning. I was kind of campaigning for Rivian, but we ended up drifting away from the idea of an electric vehicle. We'd been saving up a bit each month since then for a down payment, so by the time we needed it we had quite a lot of money, so we're not locked into a ridiculous auto loan now. We ended up with a '26 Chevy Colorado, and so far we really like it. Fox is delighted with it and loves driving it, which works out well for both of us because I don't want to drive.

We've been working on putting the garden "to sleep" while it's the hottest part of summer. I had wanted to solarize the beds, but we occulted them instead. The difference is the plastic - solarizing uses clear plastic to create a greenhouse effect and nukes the soil, killing weeds, seeds, parasites, and pretty much anything else. Occulting does the same but with black plastic, and it can take longer because it doesn't get as hot. However, my reading of it is that people seem to like the results of black plastic better. Those sheets will stay in place until probably mid-September when I'll get ready for fall and winter planting. It's simply too hot for anything to grow productively right now, and the beds were full of weeds that it was impossible to keep up with.

I'm still writing, drawing, and etc but I feel like I have a bunch of projects and I'm not going anywhere with any of them. I'm kind of tired. Today I got out early and did some lawn maintenance but then came back inside and went back to sleep for almost two hours. I'm starting to nap almost daily, and nap in a normal human way instead of going to sleep and waking up four hours later wondering where and when I am.

And finally one of my favorite summer running spots is off limits for now. Belmore Forest is closed to the public while they finish cutting and hauling off the burned trees, and I assume doing other forest management tasks. I know I'm not the only one who's been over there. But aside from it being "closed," the burn area near me means my normal trails are gone and I'm not quite sure where anything is. I suppose once it reopens I can go back and simply turn south instead of north. We also were going to get some drone footage of what's being done, but Fox would have to write off for permission to fly in that area. He did get certified to fly at night, so that's pretty cool. He's even got a little blinky light for his drone.

Mystery Springs!
Taste the Waters of Enlightenment - ahead, left on Luna Farms Road
On the beach!
Gas - Food - (some) RV Parking
( Stop in on the way to everywhere )

The last couple of weeks have been trying, and I'll try to sum things up for y'all without getting too deeply into the weeds of any particular. As you may know or have inferred, Fox works in tech and for the past couple of years has been handling the patching and maintenance of an HR/payroll system. He knows SAP really well and taught himself things like HANA and bob-j (business objects) in order to make sure this system runs regularly and on time so everyone can get paid. One major obstacle to that is that each little department has their own systems, and everything is cobbled together into one over-arching payroll system. Apparently one OS he needs to deal with is from the mid-90s.

In the interest of cutting costs, the company decided to "sell" his team and several others to another company, who would then employ them to work at Company A as contractors. With the accompanying decrease in pay, loss of benefits, etc. Losing our health insurance at this point would be a nightmare - in fact, Fox has an MRI appointment tonight for his lower back. Anyway, they would be contractors for one year, after which Company B would reassign them as needed ... or let them go. As needed.

Fox started contacting people he knew at other tech companies looking to get on there, and then the most fortuitous thing happened. A guy who has been a data warehouse dev since forever decided this was probably a good time to retire. And Fox's manager recommended him to fill the position. As of yesterday the paperwork has been signed, and the crisis is averted. The people he regularly works with see him as a valuable asset, since he's very good at programming languages, self-starting, and has worked at this company since it was AT&T way back in like, 1998. Fox has stayed at his job there as the various companies bought and sold the business. In fact once his old team was informed of his move, they were "distressed." Of course, I think they're also down to two now.

So that made the last couple of weeks an anxiety roller-coaster.

We're still "on" for a camping trip next week, since the time off was approved back in January. We'll be pulling the camper out tomorrow and starting to clean it up. As I said, he's got an MRI tonight, so we need to drive over to Baptist South for that. Earlier this week he had a neurology appointment where they determined he's got no nerve damage in his foot and leg, which is good, though it means his problem may likely be in his back. That's what tonight ought to tell us.

I'm so aggravated by this appointment right now. I leave in ten or fifteen minutes and I'm at the "let's just burn the building down" point. Just fucking tell me what's going on.

A couple of days ago I strained a muscle in my lower back - probably the psoas and in the related area. It's somewhat better today, but it's still difficult to move around and the muscles will just twinge randomly, which is especially annoying when I'm standing because it feels like my back is collapsing. So today's another round of stretching, trying to heal this thing, and not being able to do much. I hate feeling worthless.

I'll probably finish up here and go lie on the floor for a while.

I bought some seed potatoes which are ready to be planted today. I've got grow bags this year, a new experiment. Last year, wireworms got to my potatoes and destroyed the tubers. The garden actually looks pretty good so far. I'll need to get Fox's help moving the filled bags into the garden. They're only 15 quarts each but I probably shouldn't move them myself right now. If this works we'll have plenty of Yukon Gold potatoes, which are my favorite kind for roasting. They crisp up nicely in the air fryer. And I can start saving a few for next year's seed.

I haven't done much else this weekend. I don't feel up to playing my ukulele, it's too hard to sit at my desk and draw. I spent yesterday mostly doomscrolling and gaming, but I hate how that makes my brain feel. I'm almost caught up on Tales From the Stinky Dragon so I might get back into Old Gods of Appalachia.

I have had a long-standing fascination with ancient Egypt, and this morning I learned that Thoth had a female counterpart - Seshat. This is a lengthy piece about them but an interesting one. Seshat is known as the Mistress of the House of Life, which was what they called the small libraries attached to temple complexes. These were a sort of shared working space where scribes could research, write, etc. She was also known as Foremost in the Library. Another interesting note is that while there are depictions of women holding scribe's tools, indicating that they could write, Seshat is the only woman depicted in the act of writing.

There's a cold front coming through again, which I welcome, because I am not enjoying 90 degree days. Let me have a little more cold weather before summer starts beating me up. We've opened the windows back up and the change is wonderful. I slept very badly last night and I'm trying to not just fall asleep right now on the couch. I'm having a cup of coffee, then I'll try doing some yoga.

I have plants to set out in the garden, though it's going to be chilly enough for a couple of nights that we might throw a frost blanket over the beds just to keep them from getting too cold shocked. The key lime tree that I had declared dead ... is putting out leaves. It'll need a pretty radical pruning but it's alive. So all four trees made it through the freezes, and the yuzu took no damage at all.

I need to catch up my notecards for St. Felix, but I'm finally seeing how the particular story arc I started will play out. No need to push the plot right now, I feel like writing some more world-building pieces and introducing characters. Yes, Jonesy will be back. :D I kind of want to do something where I can mention some of the schools there - Atalanta Springs High, where they have a superb girls' cross-country team, and the St. Felix High Wampus Cats. Go cats! And since I mentioned putting Handsome George on the county seal I should probably work on drawing one up.

I've been so lazy today I haven't even practiced the ukulele or anything. I did manage to bake some bread but man, I am dragging.

I got my ukulele last week and I'm a little surprised at how quickly I'm picking some of it up. Fret fingering is slow, but every lesson I've watched online says it will be, just keep practicing and give it time. I had extra time this afternoon while Fox was out on a walk, so I pulled up chords for "Can't Help Falling in Love With You," and realized I don't know how strumming works. I mean, I know how to strum, but the uke has a bunch of different down and up strums that change the sound slightly. I also need a strap - holding the neck with my hand isn't working, I tend to be touching the string.

I think we've had the last real cold spell of the season. At any rate, we started cleaning up the garden beds, and I put in a seed order. I've got my hands on canvas grow bags for the potatoes, but my seed 'taters haven't shipped yet. And there's a mint plant out there that not only survived the winter, but spread. Mint genuinely gives zero fucks.

I put hummingbird feeders out, but no birds yet. Sad face. The migration map shows some sightings around me, but the notes also all say "early this year," so maybe I just put my feeders out too soon. OTOH we marked the first bird of the year on our Google calendar, so in 2025 we already had them. On the other other hand, we've also had unusually cold weather.

I gotta put some writing together this week. We're going to stop in at Mystery Springs to taste the waters of enlightenment, and see how Derrick likes those fancy coffee machines. The high schooler he hired to help out is having trouble keeping a cat out of the shop, though. Not Jonesy, but we should be getting back to Jonesy soon. Now that it's spring in St. Felix, he wants to go outside and eat grass.