And so we are once again at the precipice of a new year.
2024 is soon at an end and 2025 will begin.
Let's review what I've been up to this last full week of the year.
Packed all of the prezzies into a big bag to take home to my parent's house for Christmas.
Santa and the Grinch were working the street corner in front of the car wash.
After a stop at Trader Joe's, I made another stop at Riverside, Iowa.
Future birthplace of Captain James T. Kirk, of Star Trek.
I was really just planning to find the model ship in the park that I
remembered visiting so long ago, but it turns out the model was moved
to the parking lot of the new museum.
Which was open! On Christmas Eve.
So, sure, I went inside and had a visit with the very nice
museum owner.
These Herkey statues are all over Iowa City, but this one was granted an
exception to alter the raised feathered hand to a "Live long and Prosper" hand sign.
There aren't many original props from the series in the museum, but
this is Data's original desk. The desk was donated
by someone on the East Coast who was moving and didn't want to take it with them.
So they offered it to the museum for free if the museum could pick it up and take it away.
So, according to Phil, the museum owner, they flew out, picked up the desk,
and drove it back in a rented U-Haul.
The Starprise Entership.
haha
just kidding, the Starship Enterprise, that I remember from waaay long ago.
According to Phil, when Gene Roddenberry, the creator of Star Trek, was asked where
Captain Kirk came from, he simply said that he was born in a small town in Iowa.
So, Riverside decided that, because the town was not specified, why not here?
After consulting with Roddenberry, who gave the okay, Captain Kirk
was granted an official hometown.
Statue next to the park.
Notice the shield in the playground.
Before the stop in Riverside, I made the obligatory shopping stop at the
Trader Joe's in Coralville. It's too far to be a normal grocery shop for me,
so I try to plan for it whenever I'm driving that direction, complete with a cooler
to pack the fresh stuff until I get back home.
Anyway, here's the haul, less a few items I either ate while at my parent's house,
or gave to them as treats.
Some salads, steamed lentils, masala burgers, two pancake bread loafs, gingerbread
mix, six pack of beer, bottle of red wine, jug of wassail punch, bottle of dressing,
a tiny shopping tote with a packable reusable shopping bag inside, some loose
cans of beer and cider, Jingly Jangly chocolates, overnight oats, Brazil Nut body trio,
and an official Trader Joe's cotton tote bag.
The tote bag is very nice, and only $4.00.
I think they were in fashion for a while this year, but I don't know for sure.
One of the loose cans of beer. Oatmeal cookie stout.
Not too bad.
The backyard of the farm. A foggy day.
Duke, Momster's horse.
Had to say hello.
I also visited the goats and played with the dogs.
A Friday night gig with the rock band at the Whiskey Stop in East Moline.
Had to take an Elfie
📷
Birdie booty.
Digging into the food dish.
You know how hard it is to find stockings with Z initials?
Found at Target in a box full of other mini stockings, with the other
remaining unusual initials. The Qs, Us, Vs, and Ys.
Now I just need a mini stocking with an S for Sammi (Turtle).
Also at Target, I found what I was really there for.
This water filter that attaches to the faucet.
Very reasonable priced, and after about ten minutes, easily installed.
It says it will filter out lead and mercury.
I will still use the Brita filter in the fridge, but this will be good
for filling up water bottles or making coffee.
There is a toggle switch to send the water either through the
filter or to bypass the filter. Don't need filtered water to wash your dishes.
According to a letter from the City, there is lead detected in the water pipes
that send water to most of our houses. The filter may not do much, but it's something.
My fridge is always well-stocked this time of year.
Just a few tasty pears left.
What with the few extra spending dollars I get as gifts,
and the Trader Joes haul, it's a short few weeks of the year
where I don't have to worry much about what I'm going to eat.
I don't, as a habit, keep the fridge stuffed with food.
Plus, I have a Tofurky and all the fixins to cook up a tasty vegetarian
holiday dinner, complete with potatoes and green beans for green bean casserole.
Finally, I took myself out to the QC Botanical Center to catch
the last week of the Winter Lights.
This year featured work from a local high school welding club.
The forms for the flowers and butterflies, and these cactus.
The outdoor grounds are decorated, and a few of the plants inside the greenhouse
are given lights.
Wasn't really shopping for a new plant, but there was a table of
cuttings for sale. I think I can squeeze one more plant onto
my cactus family bench, so I chose this one.
The lady at the register told me that this is a carrion cactus,
which will bloom flowers that smell like rotting flesh.
Well, okay then.
I will repot it in the spring, but for now I will let it
acclimate to its new location at the window.
Was feeling tired after the late gig night, so after getting home from the
Winter Lights, I made some hot chocolate, watched
Hot Tub Time Machine, and headed off to bed.
It's nearly time for my annual new year's cold. 🤧
Not much planned for the end of the year,
so I will sign off here. I will return in January with
some new ideas, schemes, and plans for 2025.
🎄🎅🎉🎆
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