Cheddar Pinks, Frass Mystery

 

The cheddar pinks are opening a bit earlier this year than last year. My neighbors' peonies also seem to be slightly ahead in maturation though they have not bloomed yet.

Last Friday evening (May 1st) as I headed down the hall to my bedroom, something next to the bookcase in the hall caught my eye. It looked like a pile of dirt though I guess the proper name is frass. 

We waited until the next morning to take everything off of the bookcase.

I guess now is a good time to sort through and discard/donate items before lugging them from the den back to the bookcase.

What we found when we moved the bookcase out of the corner where it has stood for over 14 years was more frass.

We notified our maintenance department. We were told they would come look at it, possibly spray, then we would be put on the list for when the contracted pest control company comes again the end of May. So far (Wednesday), no maintenance personnel has shown up.

 We finally called the pest control company ourselves. That means we would be paying for the house call. We had noticed some damage on the back side of the bookcase next to the infested wall. We were concerned.

The lady on the phone asked us to send photos to them. On the return call this morning, she said they felt the frass was just from ordinary ants and that the "scooping out" of the bookcase wood was probably done at another time. She said to just clean up the frass and spray with ordinary ant spray which we did after lunch today. No charge for the advice.

 I will sort through the books tonight because tomorrow my housecleaner comes and it would be good to have the cedar chest in the den cleaned off.

 

 

In the Details

 Last Monday when I arrived home from Bible study group, I noticed I only had one earring. I looked in the collar of my coat (it was a very cold morning) which I had pulled up around my face, but I found nothing. 

Monday afternoon I had choir practice and thus returned to the main building. I went a little early so I could retrace my morning steps. Looked in the coatroom, walked outside and looked around the spot where I had parked, looked at the lobby carpet. Again nothing. They were an older pair so I just accepted I would no longer be wearing them. I felt a little sad though because they had been a gift from my husband. 

Yesterday afternoon as I placed my Bible in my zippered carrying case getting ready for today's gathering, I noticed a glint of metal. There was the earring. It probably got caught on the strap of my nametag as I took it off over my head; I also store the lanyard nametag in a pocket of that case. 

I had taken the Bible out last Monday afternoon to work on the new study questions. It wasn't until I stopped looking, that God restored my missing item to me. He knows the details of our lives, not just the big things. I thanked Him for this loving gesture. 

Another Miss Elaine Nightgown

 

I tend to think of my clothing as BP (before pandemic) or AP (after pandemic). Two of my warm weather nightgowns are BP and probably about 8 years old. They are serviceable, but I know I will need to replace them down the road. 

I decided to search Miss Elaine nightgowns on Kohl's on the internet with the thought that they would go on sale around Mother's Day. I would keep an eye on any I liked. I saw one marked 40% off. Might as well buy now rather than wait. 

This is definitely a summer nightgown. It is made of seersucker which I have never bought before. I was concerned about opacity, and it does have a see-through quality because of the thin seersucker fabric. It fits well so I will keep it. 

I turned my electric blanket on last night. Definitely will not be wearing seersucker for a while. 

No Cents

 In November 2025, the United States stopped minting pennies. They are, however, still legal tender. That is not the way it played out for me recently.

I seldom spend cash when purchasing items. Last week I bought a small item at Staples that was $6.87. I had gathered up my pennies throughout my house and started carrying them in my wallet so I could spend them.  I started to count out seven pennies to go with the $10 bill I handed the cashier. She refused them. She said Staples no longer accepts pennies. 

She gave me $3.20 in change. At least she rounded down so I came out ahead. The store lost 7 cents. I can understand rounding when the store has no pennies but I was giving her pennies so she would not have to give me 13 cents back along with the dollar bills.

Has this happened to you? This was the first time for me.