Odds And Ends

Random Stuff:

1.  Planted a Sourwood tree in the front yard (I have 2 in the back) .  The spot I wanted to plant it in was where a dead Beech tree was removed last Fall, and the spot was dense with old roots, so I planted it near the driveway.  

Which is probably a better spot anyway.  As I am rather inept at backing the car into the garage, I have to back it down the driveway.  I used to have 2 Golden Rain trees on either side next to the street as reference points.

But one died and the other blew over in a storm.  They aren't strong trees.  Well, OK, my car has a backup camera but it gives no depth perception.  So a new tree will help.

2.  Bought a new keyboard specifically designed for a Mac.  Most previous ones were Mac/Windows compatible.  This one has keys I'm not familiar with (in the sense they are named rather than symboled).    I don't immediately know the difference between "control, option, command" keys.  So, of course, the delete and backspace keys are only symbol.  

And if there is a "sleep" key, I have yet to find it.  Which matters.  The "sleep" function on the Mac screen menu sometimes takes a dozen tries.  The sleep button on my old keyboard seldom needed 3 tries.

The key touch feels great.  The ad said "backlit" which seemed great, but it isn't really.  Its more "reflective".  But that helps some...  It's Yivandi.

BTW, if you put one side of the keyboard "just" on your mousepad, the mousepad doesn't move around.  😀

3.  Walmart has small chrysanthemums on sale for $1.24.  I planted 4 of them into larger pots hoping for a good Halloween display on the front step by then.  A carved pumpkin would be more impressive though.  I have a good cat design I downloaded from a free site.  The question is whether I have the carving skills.  

I do have a really thin tomato slicer, and I am used to preparing a lot of veggies for dinner.  So I probably won't lose any fingers.

4.  Bought a non-slip cat food mat.  Marley really pushes his bowl around.  And if his bowl touches another cat's bowl, he considers both "his".

5.  Bought a new front door welcome mat.  I always like those fuzzy ones with cat images and that say "wipe your paws",  but they don't weather well.  This one is rubber (and says the same thing), so it should last longer...  Can't manage an image of it from Amazon...  

6.  Laz chased an intruder cat from the yard.  He ran at it weirdly. Legs spread out.  He looked like a flying squirrel at grass level...  Cats are funny about attacks sometimes.  LC used to bounce at intruders.   Marley used to do a bunny hop and a leap at the end.   I suppose that anything weird is scary to an intruder.

Halloween

 I almost carved a pumpkin this year.  I even bought good one (cheap - $3.99).  And I found 2 nice cat designs online.

The 1st looked a bit complicated.  I would have cut off one of the legs or something.  And it might have been interpreted negatively.  I mean, who would approach a door where the pumpkin is "mooning" you?

So I thought maybe the 2nd would be better.  Lots of small cuts rather than a big one, more immediately-identifiable from a distance, and much more friendly-looking.

I only considered it because there are new (but trick-or-treating age) kids next door and across the street.  I haven't had a trick-or-treater knock on my door (or seen any out visiting other houses) for 15 years.  But then it occurred to me that I didn't have any suitable treats (loose unpackaged Sweet-Tarts that I keep in a jar didn't seem appropriate).

So I decided not to bother.  I usually just keep the house dark on Halloween these days anyway.  So I decided not to bother carving a pumpkin.

Then, just before dark, I realized I had some candy safe to hand out.  I have Lindor truffles in mil-chocolate hazelnut, white chocolate, and extra dark chocolate.  

And I do  have a couple of costumes I could wear.  One is a wizard outfit I made 2 decades ago.  Black cloth, sleeves draping at the wrist, iron-on shapes of moon/sun/stars/comets, etc.  But it is kind of awkward to wear.  I also have a kind of cowboy outfit.  Boots, vest, gambler-style hat.  But I also used to collect T-shirts.  Weird ones!  I used to wear them to the office on Casual Friday.  One is covered with tarantulas.  I decided that was easiest to wear and appropriate to the holiday.

So there I was.  House lights on, uncarved pumpkin at the front door, Lindor milk chocolate/hazelnut for kids and extra dark chocolate for the adults, dressed in tarantulas.

Not one trick-or-treater showed up!  Again...  

Do any of you still get trick-or-treaters?  Or is the holiday dead now (for door-to-door visits)?

[Edited to add:  "Mark's Mew's is temporarily offline.  Google has locked it for "violating community standards".  I have no idea why (what can be offensive about a cat blog?) but I have asked for a "review" and hope to hear from them soon.  It is very distressing.]