Black Eyes, Insomnia and Pumpkins

 I have a shiner!! It has nothing to do with my insomnia. The insomnia is the fault of he who likes to build fires. It rained yesterday and there was a damp chill in the air. I was feeling much better than I have all week and I gave the man permission to build the first fire of the season in the wood stove.

I gave him instructions. A small fire. Just to take the chill out of the air. No raging infernos that he is so fond of. He likes to get a raging fire going and then leave the house. I am beginning to think he wants me to sweat. He was gone most of the day and I let the fire dwindle as I worked around the house. When he came in for supper he brought with him a load of firewood. He got the embers going and I warned him, once again, not to add too many logs before bedtime.

Might as well have been talking to myself. Went to bed and could not get comfortable. My bare feet out of the covers were too cold, but under the covers, I was sweating. I got up at midnight with some restless dogs. There is a thermometer next to the drafty back door. 70 degrees there at the door. Wonder what it is in the room with the wood stove ....... 77. It was a couple of degrees cooler in our bedroom. I tell you, had it been 75 degrees and summer, he would have wanted the air conditioner on. The man is trying to drive me insane!! I did not go back to bed until 1:30.

 Back to my black eye. The puppy called Toni, with the freakishly long legs is a sweet girl. She is a little strange in appearance and in behavior, too. She likes to sniff my eyes. Every night while we are sitting in front of the TV at the end of the day, she will insinuate herself into my lap ...... no, that's wrong. She likes to sit on my chest, effectively blocking my view of the TV or my laptop. She wants my full attention. She wants me to hold her face in my hands and talk to her. While I am talking she investigates my face with her nose, paying undue attention to my eyes. She doesn't go nuts licking my face, she just sniffs. If my glasses are on, she will gently nose her way under them. It is very strange and it tickles.

Last night, as she was trying to assume her seat upon my chest she lost her balance and her paw ended up under my glasses in my eye while the rest of her legs and body fell onto my face. I did mention those legs that are freakishly long, didn't I?

I meant to take a photo of the mangled glasses before they went for repair, but forgot. These were my new glasses. The glasses I got after my eye exam and new prescription. The glasses from my favorite eyeglass store and my favorite camper/optician Barb at HERE'S 2 EYES in Troy, Mo. Thank goodness I had the foresight to get two pair!! Two pair I got for what most places would have charged me for one pair! Not only that, but personal, friendly service. My glasses are no doubt already in Barb's hands. Barb's magic hands, I should say. He who has a second job had to go right through Troy and dropped my glasses off. If anyone can salvage them, Barb can! The lens are okay, the frame may have to be replaced.

The puppy called Toni not only has freakishly long legs and an eye fetish .... she is a clumsy, too. And that is how I came to have a shiner. I actually didn't see it until I washed my face. It doesn't hurt. I wonder if I could get some mileage out of this injury. Maybe dinner out and a nice foot rub?

 The sun is shining again and I ventured out to check on my turnips. This is the only pumpkin to survive and I didn't even plant it .... it was a volunteer from the pumpkin I tossed in the compost bin last year. Is this the tiniest one you have ever seen?

Too small to carve ...........