An Election, a Fire, & Vintage Sparklers

So, today was kind of a weird day, after a huge overnight thunderstorm that dumped five and a half inches of rain on our yard. Walter left for work, and I started tackling the vanilla wafers.

I had four huge boxes of vanilla wafers to grind up in my blender. They smell absolutely heavenly. (The smell is the only thing about them I can enjoy!) I got through about half of them before Walter returned so we could go vote.

We rousted Jasper out of bed and soon we were on our way to the community center. There was a line, but the wait wasn’t too bad, and the voting itself was quick and easy. Here we are moments later:

Back at the house, I finished processing the vanilla wafers. I have 26 cups of wafer crumbs now. Then I sat down to do some math. You know, I use math a lot more in my everyday life than I ever thought I would. There is a lot of math in sewing and cooking. Anyway, I had to figure out how much of everything I’ll need to make so much pie this weekend. A gallon and a half of heavy whipping cream, for starters. That’s a LOT. I have a shopping list now.

Of course, today isn’t just election day. It’s also Guy Fawkes Day, or Bonfire Night. Remember Jolly Good Fellow?

He smiled right up until the end:

Then we got to try out the fabulous sparklers. A week or so ago, I was cleaning out my closet, and I found these massive sparklers hanging at the very back. They’re three feet long, and made from very thick sturdy metal. I showed them to Jasper. I have no memory of ever buying them. He looked at the date on the box and it was 2008! I wondered if they would even still work.

Turns out they work really well! They burn a LONG time unless you light them in more than one place.

I have not seen sparklers of this quality in a long time. Probably not since 2008! We have a few left for another celebratory occasion.

Now I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this before, but I quite often get mushy comments on my public Facebook posts from middle-aged men who claim that they find me attractive and are desperate to be my friend. Usually they claim to be doctors or ex-military men. And no, I don’t ever fall for it. The requests are always deleted as soon as I’m aware of them.

Today’s request, though, may be a prizewinner. I can’t resist sharing it with you:

“If every raindrop was one of your smiles, a beautiful woman like you, I wish it would rain heavily so that there would be no place for misfortune in your life, and I hope you have a wonderful day, just like your bright grin. I tried to send you a friend request but it was unsuccessful. It would be an honor to be your friend. I humbly ask if you would be so kind to click on my profile and send me a friend request, or direct message, but if you find this message embarrassing please pardon my manners. THANKS.”

What makes it even funnier is that this guy claims to be a four-star general, stationed in Korea. I tried and failed to imagine a four-star general scrolling through Facebook looking for middle-aged women to scam.

Thankfulness Day 5: Today I am thankful for our republic, and for the fact that we can still vote and be relatively sure that the votes will be honored.